I’ve been thinking about breeding my Cory catfish, but need to build a good nursery for the fry. I cannot do a mesh fry separator because of the shape of my tank’s lid and my dual filters. So, I need to get a small tank I can put the fry in until they grow up. I just don’t know how to set up a good nursery. 1. How big should the tank be? I am only breeding one pair, but I may breed more. 2. Can it have substrate? If so, does it need to be sand? I have little experience with sand and am not sure how to clean it.
A ten gallon with sand substrate will work for the first 1-2 months of their life as long as you are keeping up with water changes and feedings. Sand will prevent the babies from getting trapped between the substrate, sand is easy to clean as you just wave whatever you are syphoning the tank with over the surface without touching the sand and suck up what debris you can then file the tank. A sponge filter is going to be better for this grow out tank so no cory fry get accidentally sucked up an intake and into an impeller. It is best to have two males to one female for breeding purposes (sometimes more than that), females can lay a hundred eggs without breaking a sweat and several males are needed to insure the eggs get fertilized. Get java moss and stems plants in the tank to provide a wide range of surfaces for the fry to munch on microorganisms between feedings, at 1 week old they can pretty much eat the same things as the adults, but more nutritious foods will help with growth and health.
Make sure the sponge filter is cycled before you add it! I have been breeding cories and mine layed over 100. Got a journal about it Edit: Sarah's Breeding Journal
