scatty

My bronze corys have been happily spawning away again, and I've decided I'm not really going to interfere, just let nature take it's course and see what happens. When I do a pwc and gravel vacuum I've noticed I have plenty of baby (teeny tiny) corys in the tank, so I've backed off the gravel vacuuming for now. My question is, will the adult corys eat them if they unearth them from the gravel? There's nothing else but corys in the tank, and there's plenty of weed, driftwood and rock for hiding places. I suspect there are less babies than last week, but obviously I can't be sure. Don't know how I could possibly find them if I wanted to catch them anyway. Also, how long before they're big enough to see, and also to not be at risk of being eaten? They're less than 2 weeks old at the moment, and not much bigger than mosquito larvae.

Tony G.

SWikins breeds corys, she might see this soon

Nick Goody

I move my Corys into my Guppy fry tanks now and again for a clean up, and they never bother the Guppies, even newborns, but I'm not sure what they're like with they're own young.

scatty

I was hoping she might Tony

Tony G.

ehem BUMP for sherry

SWilkins

Sorry I was busy cleaning up after some bristlenose "dogs" that made a horrible mess. My cories took it upon themselves to breed...I just kinda stole their eggs. I just got the cories because I liked them and they were cute. The fact that they laid eggs and everytime they do I steal all of them that I can and incubate them is just a bonus. From what I have read and seen they will eat the eggs themselves and so will guppies. Mine are in a tank with just guppies and a few snails and the snails will eat them too.

scatty

I have a feeling that the adults will eat the young if they happen across them, I have noticed they will eat the eggs, and parenting instincts seem non-existent. Still, is there anyone out there who can tell me how quickly they will grow, and when they might start coming out of hiding?

SWilkins

They do grow pretty quickly at first. I have some that are around 3-4 months old and are around an inch long now...it seems like after they reach about an inch their growth slows down a bit but this could just be my goofy fish so wait for somebody else to respond.

scatty

Thank you, that gives me an idea of what to expect. I wonder if any of the little guys will survive. Almost seems wrong to leave them to their fate. The adults are voracious foragers, and it seems the fry are in the gravel where they are bound to be eaten if unearthed. Hmmm.....so much for not interfering...

aquarist48

Congrats on the fry Scatty. Best of luck for some survivors! Personally I think it's always best to let mother nature to take care of the first spawn. You really need to see what is going on and how everyone reacts to the eggs. Sometimes we lose them and other times we don't. Don't feel too badly. I think you're doing the right thing this go around. After this experience then you can decide if you want to help the eggs out and rescue them.
Best wishes.
Ken

scatty

Thanks Ken. That makes me feel a bit better about what I'm doing Although I must admit, it's not the first spawning, just the first lot of eggs that didn't get eaten. It's been a bit of a journey this spawning thing. First the betta in the tank had a feast, then I stole the eggs and something sucked them through a mesh net. This time there was no Betta, and I put the eggs in a solid plastic floating breeding tank. Which protected them til they hatched and then the tiny fry slipped through the holes in the bottom and hid in the gravel. Hehe. I wasn't too upset, as I was going away for the weekend and hadn't a clue as to what to do with them, feed them etc. So, anyway, I think I've talked myself into letting nature take it's course again. Any tips on how to care for the next batch should there be one would be appreciated

Mr. Greg

Congrats on the fry Scatty!
Just wanted to share my limited experience with leaving baby corys in the tank with their parents since I was worried about the same thing you are. I had a single baby survive past the egg stage recently, and although I have a lot of cover for him, the adults either did not find him, or didn't go after him. I tend to believe they would not eat him because the baby seemed to stay in the same area as the adults and my bet is they would have found him.

He's about 2 months old now and eats with the adults so I know they haven't bothered him since he started to look like an actual cory.
My best guess would be to keep the adults well fed just in case, until a few more weeks have passed and they've grown a bit. They really are the cutest little guys.
Hope to hear how it goes, and Good Luck!

scatty

Excellent! I love this site - such a wealth of experiece among members. Thanks Greg, that gives me hope that I might see a survivor or two. Do I take it you have other fish in the tank that may have eaten the other fry? Jeez, if the adult corys don't eat them I might end up with 50 survivors! (since the tank is corys only). This will be interesting. The fish are definately well-fed (can't help myself), so it's just a waiting game now. Unfortunately patience is not one of my strong points

scatty

Hmmm...update. I just did a pwc and vacuumed the gravel to see if there's anything in there (just too impatient to wait). Nothing. No fry in the gravel that I cleaned. Either they've grown and changed hiding places, or they're slowly being devoured...

Mr. Greg

Ah, I hope it turns out they are just hiding. I know that mine moved around a bit while growing though. Some days I'd go looking for him (I'm the same when it comes to being patient) and I wouldn't be able to find him at all, only to find him a few days later staring me in the face. So don't give up hope!

Are you feeding the fry anything in particular? I'm curious because I fed mine some fry food by Hikari (first bite), and it seems to have worked pretty well, but maybe some other forum members have some advice on that because I'm new to breeding corys and I don't want to give bad advice.

Just as a note, I read on here about using pantyhose to cover the gravel vac's intake to prevent baby fish or shrimp from getting sucked up, and it has worked great for me so far.