Breeding difficulty

[19wiggles86]

Hi can anybody give me some information on spawning albino corys. I regularly get spawnings of about 10 - 20 eggs, laid on the filter and glass. I collect these and place them in a breeding trap where the following things happen:

1. Some remain clear with a white spot in them.
2. Some turn fully white.
3. Which ever of the above two happen the eggs get fungus on them.

I have observed the female releasing eggs, catching them between her ventral fins and placing them around the tank. However, my corys never do the T-position. Does this mean my female is laying eggs even though they aren't fertilised? Also, what is the difference in the eggs are 1's fertilised or are they both infertile? There are currently eight albinos in a species tank with a sand substrate.

Thanks for reading!

[Kana3]

I'd have thought you'd be getting more eggs than that. Are you checking the leaves of your plants? I often need to find a lot of my eggs by feel. The T-Position can go pretty fast, they don't always hang around. As long as there is a couple of Males darting around with the Female, I wouldn't worry too much.

The all white eggs are most likely unfertilized. If your Cory's are new to breeding, you may get a bit of this at first. If you have some tweezers, you can separate those eggs. The clear with white spot eggs should be ok. Put in a drop or two of Methylene Blue, you don't need much, it's an Fungicide.

[MatsP]

Albino cory's isn't just one species. There's at least two commonly bred Albino's, plus a few very rare ones (like Albino

Corydoras sterbai

.

Spawning of the albino species would be the same as the "normal" species.

I know that one of the common albinos (probably the MOST common) is

Corydoras aeneus

. I think the second most common would be

Corydoras paleatus

.

--
Mats

[19wiggles86]

Hi Kana3

My corys are quite young, we only had them a couple of months before they started spawning. They are about 1 inch long. I don't know if I have males at all, I have no idea how to sex them, lots of places try to say but really if I'm honest, they all look the same to me.

Perhaps I have been missing the T-position, I'll try and set up some sort of recording equipment to monitor them when I'm not there.

They only lay eggs on the filter and glass I have thoroughly inspected the plants and found nothing. If I'm completely honest I would be amazed if my little corys churned out 200 eggs, there would be nothing left of them afterwards. Perhaps when they are older.

I think I am going to invest in some of that methylene blue stuff. Lots of people seem to recommend it.

Hi MatsP

I know there are different types of albino corys. Unfortunately I have no idea what mine are. They were just sold as albino corys. The shop also sells peppered corys and bronze corys. I think they get all their fish from the same place as well, so on that very loose basis I would probably say they were Corydoras paleatus. However, it really is only a loose basis (at best lol)!

Thanks for all the info. people.
If anyone else can chip in I'd be very grateful.
Thanks again.
Adam

[Coryman]

They are most likely C. aeneus albino, it is reasonably easy to tell them from C. paleatus albino. You can also see the marbled patterning on the body. This might help.
So you want to breed Corydoras

Ian

[FuglyDragon]

When looked at from above the females are much wider about the middle and generally more 'bulky'even when not gravid with eggs. The female carries the eggs between her fins, so you know the one you have observed is deff a female, compare the body shape of the others to that known one and you should be able to get a good idea.

If you arn't seeing the T then the guys arn't doing their thing.

If the eggs go all white then they are infertile.

Good eggs in my experience go from a clear transparent color to a kind of dirty tan, and mine hatch out after 3 days (at 24 degrees C 3 dKh).

Incidently the longer you leave them on the glass or wherever they less sticky they get and the harder they are to remove so I generally move them into a net breeder as soon as I see them.

I have also noticed my cory's tend to lay their eggs in roughly the same spots around the tank each time, I removed about 20 eggs from a spot on the glass before I went to work this morning, when I got back there were 30 or so more in exactly the same spot.

[Kana3]

Fugly beat me to it, so I'll play the guy who changes the slides!

See here how the body width doesn't taper off, until beyond the Dorsal fin - Female. The Male's taper off from more toward the front of the Dorsal (how's that sound Coryman?). These two are Female. Hard to tell in the tank, but often you can kill your pump, and get a clear view from above.

[19wiggles86]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the help. Can anybody show me a picture of a male (if possible next to a female)? Everyone seems to have pictures of females, but no males.

Thanks

[MatsP]

Wiggles:

As Kana said, looking at the fish from above is the best way - biggest at the head: male, biggest further back: female. But you can also identify males/females by the fins - the paired fins near the anus will be rounded on females and more "square" ended on males.

There is a identified male on the

Corydoras sterbai

page - first picture. Of course, there's no female...

--
Mats

[Kana3]

You don't Snorkel by any chance, do you Wiggles?

[19wiggles86]

Lol no, maybe I'll have to give it a try .

[Coryman]

You can clearly see the difference between male and female here C. melanistius pair from above

Ian

[19wiggles86]

Thanks for all the help guys.

[Luis27]

Hello...guys

greetings from POrtugal...

My corys spawn regularly, however eggs never hatch...

I'm sure i have 2 females and 4 males in a 80 litres tank, at 25 degrees.

The eggs are more or less clear with a white spot (all of them) inside...

Can someone please tell me if these eggs should be fertile??

What can i do to solve the problem?

Thanks