emerald green corys laid eggs

[bulldog73]

well they laid eggs today wasnt expecting it ,because i wasn't trying.so what i did was filled a 10 gal with half new water and half from tank they were laid in.added a sponge filter.then i removed eggs from glass and plants with a razor blade and put them in the new tank. now are they good or bad eggs ,will a female cory lay eggs without a male (like a chicken) there is a pair in my tank.i'm new to the whole breeding thing so don't mine all the questions.what else do i need to do till they hatch.it takes about 3 days for them to hatch right?than a week before they start feeding,what do i feed newly hatch corys. hope they hatch my son can't what. thanks Clint

[purgatori27]

Congrats and good luck with the eggs. My corys will spawn when I do a water change of slightly cooler water than what's in the tank. They are a pain in the neck when I'm trying to clean the aquarium. They stay right under my fingers while I'm replanting plants or stirring up crap in the tank. They are probably my favorite fish. As for your questions:

I always remove any eggs I want to hatch because as you know, the parents as well as tank mates will make a quick snack of them. I don't use a razor blade. Instead, I simply roll them onto my finger and stick them to the side of a specimen container (bought cheaply from kensfish.com , you can never have too many). There are a million ways to hatch the eggs. I keep mine in the specimen container, pouring out a little water and adding a little tank water several times a day (in a larger container you can use an airstone for circulation). Depending on the species, it takes from 2-6 days for all the eggs to hatch. Yours are in a 10 gallon, and that's great. I prefer not to use any substrate. This makes siphoning the bottom a breeze.

The difference between good and bad eggs are almost immediately visible. White eggs are no good. Eggs that are a light amber color are viable. I highly recommend using Methylene Blue (available at petsolutions.com). One 4 oz bottle cost like $3 and will last a long time. Yes, you can hatch the eggs without this product, but your loss will be much greater due to fungus...trust me. Basically, the bad eggs will start to develop fungus within the first two days, and that fungus can spread to the viable eggs and harm them. I use a leftover rigid plastic air tube from an old undergravel filter to gently scrape the bad eggs away from the good eggs.

A female will absolutely lay eggs with no male present. I had a single Albino female that would spawn every month like clockwork. It was funny to me at the time because I also had a female African Cichlid that would do the same almost at the same time...they were in separate tanks with no males present, but on the same schedule! When your fish are happy and their needs are met, they will try to multiply.

You'll know when the fry are ready to feed as you watch their yolk sacs disappear. That happens around 4 or 5 days after hatching. The best case scenerio is that you have a nice healthy cycled tank always waiting for them. A ball of Java Moss is awesome for hosting lil algae particles and tiny organisms that can be used as food. I feed my fry crushed fish flakes, which is the same thing I feed my baby Rainbows. You'll read all over the internet that you need baby brine shrimp, micro worms, and other "micro" food. In my opinion and experience, if your tank is established (cycled) with plants and algae (Java Moss a huge plus), there should be enough "micro" food to sustain the fry til they are big enough to eat crushed flakes or suck on an algae wafer.

If your eggs don't work out, I'd like to offer you a few baby albino cory cats. They are about 3 weeks old and are a joy to watch grow. They literally never stop moving as babies and juveniles. These are probably one of the easiest egg layers I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. They are awesome tank mates and cleaners. They literally wouldn't hurt any fish or invert on purpose. I say on purpose because they can be clumsy and dash about bashing into other animals, bashing them against hard surfaces and such. The old female I mentioned earlier makes mad dashes to the surface for a breath of air (no, there's nothing wrong with her, she's done this every day for the 4 years I've owned her). The other corys are gentle and easy going about it. She rips to the top and dashes right back to the bottom (possibly a sign of a wild born fish, although I doubt it since she's an albino aeneus and very easy to breed). I fear my Rainbows will be hit by her bullet one day.

In any case, this has become a small novel and for that, I'm sorry. I hope I've helped you out a little. I'm going to try to post a pic of a spawn that happened two days ago in my 55 gallon. This was from a young female, and I noticed most of the first eggs she deposited were not viable (diversionary tactic or inexperience?). The eggs at the bottom of the specimen container are probably not fertile. The eggs at the top are fertile. It just so happens that the line of fertility is near the water line in the background.

[bulldog73]

thanks for the help.whats a good temp for the eggs?how long till i know the eggs are good there all a off white now and you can see the yolk also it darker.

[purgatori27]

I suppose I could search online for a perfect temp all the experts could agree on, but in my personal experience the eggs hatch just fine in a range of 72-78 degrees F.

You will know within 2 days whether or not the eggs are good. Sometimes it can throw you off if the eggs are all good or all bad because they're all the same color (to an untrained eye, that is). If they are bad, they should turn very white. If they stay off white or clearish or amber (however you want to describe other than bright white), then they are most likely good. Usually I just monitor them and let them do their thing, and in a week whatever babies hatch will usually thrive. Not as easy as a Guppy, but still very easy once you get the hang of it.

[suebe333]

Is malachite green similiar to methlyene blue? I have some cory eggs I just moved half of them to a 10 gallon with about a gallon of their tanks water threw a couple of plants in with them , and a bit of the filter media , just wondering if there is anything else I should do

[Fern]

Place an airstone under the eggs. They need water flowing over them to help prevent fungus.
You can use a razorblade to move the eggs and stick them on the glass in the 10g I do it all the time.

[suebe333]

I have babies 18 at last count , yay

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by suebe333

I have babies 18 at last count , yay

Congrats!!!

[suebe333]

Thank you thank you , not sure if they are albino , greens , or pandas yet