PlanetCatfish.com

Hello all,

I have had 2 failures at keeping my cory fry. This 3rd time I have been having more luck. Out of about 100 fry I have lost 4. I Have lost 2 in consecutive days one of them being today. Should I be worried? This is my setup specs:

~1.5 gallon tank (Bare Bottom)
~Sponge Filter(Small)
~6 inches of water with a couple drops of funguside treatment.
~Fed 3 times a day(Frozen rotifers,Frozen bbs,Frozen rotifers)
then(Frozen bbs,Frozen rotifers,Frozen bbs)etc..
~Cleaned every feeding with a turkey baster.
~They are eating, there's plenty of fish pooh to clean up.
~Subdued lighting
~Waterchanges of about 1 cup of water 3 times a day. Replaced with half tap and half water from my 75 gallon tank with food thawed and mixed up.
~77 degrees

Are there any suggestions anyone has that could keep these fish alive and healthy? I'm worried that by next week 4 losses will turn into 100... Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

HellaSancho

This is my current practise.

No overfeed. Twice works just fine. Use Live bbs instead. No other food till 1.5-2 month old.

Use tap water only of about the same temperature as the fry tank with Anti-Chlorine/Chloramine.

How long are the fry in the 1.5g container before they start dying? I beleive that you are feeding too much three times a day. You did not say what the pH of the hatching container was. The pH in small containers will crash very easily from over feeding. Sprinkle a little crushed coral in the container to keep the pH from crashing.

Mark

I usually start Aeneus or Paleatus eggs in a 10 gallon tank and add more water as the fry/juveniles grow(as they can reach the surface). At the 1 week point, I have the tank at 6 gallons and change 3 gallons daily. I only feed when I see their bellies aren't full. Right now, I'm down to one feeding a daily(frozen baby brine shrimp)with a group of Aeneus juveniles. Within a brood, there seem to be a few that get to the food faster than others. The ones that can't get to the food starve. This may also be a remote possiblity. I find it a bit difficult cleaning out a 10 gallon tank with just 20 fry, so I would think a 1.5 gallon tank with a 100 fry(most likely juveniles at this time)would be quite difficult to clean on a daily basis. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. These are just my hobbyist observations.
Amanda

Well, the PH is 7.5 at the moment. The same as my tap water. Do you think it would be a good idea to move these fry into a larger setting? I do have a plastic drawer under my bed (the type you purchase for 10 dollars that come with 3 shelves and a white frame) that is getting cycledt as we speak. Should I place them all in this container? It holds approximtly 7 gallons at 6.5 inches deep. How important is lighting to them suriving? If my PH is too high, can I add PH Down or are the fry way to fragile to handle that? At the moment cleaning isn't exceptioally hard. I use a turkey baster for about 5 mins. I wipe the small tank once a day. It's small work but it seems to be running ok. If I put them in the bigger container, should I use some sort of substrate or is bare bottom best for now? I do have a fry tank full of 1/2" and 1" long guppies (10 gallon.) I was planning on putting the cory fry in that once I could remove all of the guppies and put them in my 75 gallon tank. I cleaned and fed today and I don't see any more dead. Thats 2 days without death. Should I stop using funguside or would it be a good idea to leave a little in the water?

Once again, thankyou, this is very helpful as I am a novice to breeding all egg laying species of fish.

HellaSancho

I prefer slightly lesser than ph 7. But usually i got 7 since is from tap.

Bigger tank means big volume of water which provides
stability in temp. and longer water quality. A healthy fry should be able to find live food that you drop in a 1.5ft.
Else there will not be cory species in the wild.

Would a gravel bottom UG filter 10 gallon tank be better for cory fry? I have had 3 deaths sence moving to a bare bottom 6 gallon drawer. The 10 gallon is fully cycled and devoid of fish as of new.

Also, when observing my fry, one of them has very dark spots on its top compared to the almost translucent white of the others. What causes this?

UG no no. The fry will dig under it and get stuck or crushed. Food will seeps in as well.

6 gallon is ok. Make sure no overfeed. And change 20-30% water daily if possible.