What Will Control Corydora Population

I have a 29 gallon with BDBS substrate with some wisteria, cabomba, small piece of driftwood, and 2 large lava rocks. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 20-30, pH 7.4, Temp ranges throughout the year 68- 78. I live in Florida and don't have a heater in this tank. (I have heaters...just choose not to have one in this tank.) Currently I have 7 golden white cloud mountain minnows, 3 amano shrimp, and 12-15 panda corydoras. I started with 6 adults, had some babies, lost one of the adults, and had some more babies. They just keep showing up! I'm not doing anything at all to purposely increase the herd. My problem is that once I see the babies I can't "get rid of them". Something needs to be done before I'm over run with cory cats. I'd like for some type of fish to handle that for me. I'm thinking along the lines of a paradise fish but I really don't know much about them other than the water parameters would work. Will paradise fish eat the eggs and/or fry but leave the adults alone? Is there another option that would fit the bill? I'm open to suggestions!

 

Donate to LFS? Maybe store credit?

 

I have a 29 gallon with BDBS substrate with some wisteria, cabomba, small piece of driftwood, and 2 large lava rocks. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 20-30, pH 7.4, Temp ranges throughout the year 68- 78. I live in Florida and don't have a heater in this tank. (I have heaters...just choose not to have one in this tank.) Currently I have 7 golden white cloud mountain minnows, 3 amano shrimp, and 12-15 panda corydoras. I started with 6 adults, had some babies, lost one of the adults, and had some more babies. They just keep showing up! I'm not doing anything at all to purposely increase the herd. My problem is that once I see the babies I can't "get rid of them". Something needs to be done before I'm over run with cory cats. I'd like for some type of fish to handle that for me. I'm thinking along the lines of a paradise fish but I really don't know much about them other than the water parameters would work. Will paradise fish eat the eggs and/or fry but leave the adults alone? Is there another option that would fit the bill? I'm open to suggestions!

Craigs list? Lol

 

Spay and neuter those kitties. On a serious note, yes, I think having a Paradise will help. How effectively, that I do not know. If you're willing to ship, I might even take some off your hands. I'll pay shipping. Of course, I'd want to see them first.

 

Do you ever see the eggs? If so just pop them when ever you see them. The problem with adding something to eat the corys is they might eat the shrimp.

 

I live in a rural area. No LFS, and the chain stores won't take them. Don't really want to ship them either. The few friends or family I have with tanks aren't set up for corydoras. I have a 75 community tank I could transfer some to if I absolutely HAD to but it has large river pebbles as substrate.

 

I have pea gravel with mine. As long as the gravel isn't sharp they will be fine.

 

What about a Bolivian ram? I'm not completely opposed to throwing the heater in there if I need to.

 

Perhaps a loach? My dojo loach taz absolutely terrorizes eggs, honestly, he eats them before they're out of the analfins!
You'd have to find a smaller species of loach though, or put them in the 75 a while later since they get too large for a 29 in the end, but it's just a thought.
You'd definitely not have any more fry that's for sure!

 

Do you ever see the eggs? If so just pop them when ever you see them. The problem with adding something to eat the corys is they might eat the shrimp.

I do clean them off the glass when I see them. I'm assuming that's why I don't have even more in there. It's the eggs that are hidden that are hatching and surviving.

 

Perhaps a loach? My dojo loach taz absolutely terrorizes eggs, honestly, he eats them before they're out of the analfins!
You'd have to find a smaller species of loach though, or put them in the 75 a while later since they get too large for a 29 in the end, but it's just a thought.
You'd definitely not have any more fry that's for sure!

Idk if that a thing to champion or just morbid! Lol that dojo is a serial egg killer! O.O

I do clean them off the glass when I see them. I'm assuming that's why I don't have even more in there. It's the eggs that are hidden that are hatching and surviving.

Idk anything about sexing corys but sounds like they just need to be removed and separated.

 

Perhaps a loach? My dojo loach taz absolutely terrorizes eggs, honestly, he eats them before they're out of the analfins!
You'd have to find a smaller species of loach though, or put them in the 75 a while later since they get too large for a 29 in the end, but it's just a thought.
You'd definitely not have any more fry that's for sure!

I have yoyo loaches in my 75. My thinking is it would be a problem again once I had to move the loach when he outgrows the 29. So that's just a temporary solution.

 

I have yoyo loaches in my 75. My thinking is it would be a problem again once I had to move the loach when he outgrows the 29. So that's just a temporary solution.

Ah yeah, I haven't kept yoyos and I'm not sure how compatible they are with dojos.
But as suggested you could possibly just separate males from females.
It's sometimes hard to tell but females are plump with rounded fins that are at angles, and males have more sharp straight fins, as smaller and thinner.

 

Maybe that would at least slow them down a bit if I didn't get the sexing right. I'd like to not put them in the 75 if I don't have to...it would be a nightmare to get them out if something in there were to pick on them. But it IS an option. That's going to be a last resort though.

 

My panda cories seem to breed more in the summer when I have to cool the tank down with cooler water during the water change.
In the summer the tank temp can get up to 84. I normally keep it around 74-76.
I had five, but three young ones passed away.
Several months later I found three babies.
A year and a bit later, I have 15+ in a 20 gallon tall aquarium.

 

My panda cories seem to breed more in the summer when I have to cool the tank down with cooler water during the water change.
In the summer the tank temp can get up to 84. I normally keep it around 74-76.
I had five, but three young ones passed away.
Several months later I found three babies.
A year and a bit later, I have 15+ in a 20 gallon tall aquarium.

Sounds very similar to my situation. Although my biggest bunch of babies came in the last 2 months. As the babies start to look like miniature pandas I'll see another 1 or 2 teeny squiggly baby tadpoles.
I don't think I'm overstocked yet. I am way over filtered and do regular maintenance and water changes so I think I can manage the current population and add an exocutioner fish. This is what I'd prefer to do rather than split the school up. I like how they act in the bigger school. I think I would rarely see them in my 75 gallon the way it's set up.

 

I want panda cories to bad you won't ship

At my lfs they sell for $10 each lol

 

A heater may help.

Breeding information i’ve read says to lower water temperature via water change and turn down heater to spur spawning.

In nature, they spawn after a heavy rain floods the surrounding area.

But with White Cloud Mountain minnows, you can’t get it too warm.

 

I'm in Apopka, I'd buy some if you were close.

 

I want panda cories to bad you won't ship

At my lfs they sell for $10 each lol

Dang! They are usually$4-$5 here.

 

For what it's worth, I have bronze cories that often lay eggs but my Bolivian Rams go after the eggs like candy. I never see any fry survive.

 

A heater may help.

Breeding information i’ve read says to lower water temperature via water change and turn down heater to spur spawning.

In nature, they spawn after a heavy rain floods the surrounding area.

But with White Cloud Mountain minnows, you can’t get it too warm.

Mine did most of their spawing during the summer! Now that the water temps have cooled it isn't near as often. I've cleared out a good bit of the plants so there are less hiding places and infusoria (I assume) which seems to be helping. I've seen an adult eat a very tiny fry, but once they are a tad bit bigger they seem to be safe from the adults.
At the moment I don't feel like I have too many, so I'm not yet looking to offload them. I just want to get it under control before I DO have too many.

For what it's worth, I have bronze cories that often lay eggs but my Bolivian Rams go after the eggs like candy. I never see any fry survive.

HI Mark...what temperature do you keep you tank? I've been looking into them.

 

HI Dawna,
I have BR's in two different tanks. One tank is kept at 74, another at 72. They thrive in both.

 

HI Dawna,
I have BR's in two different tanks. One tank is kept at 74, another at 72. They thrive in both.

This sounds perfect. Can I keep a single ram or do they need to be kept in groups? Can I do them in my 29 gallon?

 

jmaldo Tagging him because I think of him as the BR expert and I got my BR's from him.

I have one that I keep single and in another tank I have a pair. I can't see any reason why you couldn't do them in a 29 gallon.

They really do have a great personality and add a lot of interest! I notice I get better color from then on a darker substrate and also notice they feed mostly from the substrate or at least the bottom layer of the tank.

 

This does sound like the perfect solution. I've been wanting a centerpiece fish for this tank anyway. Seems like a lot of open space in it with the minnows on top and the corydoras mostly hiding on the bottom. What eggs manage to hatch would probably get picked off by the foraging Rams. Thanks for the info!

 

You're welcome!

 

FLDawna

By no means an expert. I have assisted my pair with their spawns. Thanks @OhioMark and agree with your advice. I have kept my pair in a 20L and no problems. Have about a dozen juveniles in a 20H, another dozen in the 55. Good Luck on your eventual choice.

 

FLDawna

By no means an expert. I have assisted my pair with their spawns. Thanks @OhioMark and agree with your advice. I have kept my pair in a 20L and no problems. Have about a dozen juveniles in a 20H, another dozen in the 55. Good Luck on your eventual choice.

I think I'll start out with a pair and see where it goes! Thanks for the feedback.

 

I think I'll start out with a pair and see where it goes! Thanks for the feedback.

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