Cory Fry Journal! =] Any Advice welcome!

[LyzzaRyzz]

So, four days ago, i noticed during feeding fime, my electric yellow female guppy had something white, and circular in her mouth, and it was big enough that she wasnt getting it down, and was trying to eat around it. I was worried it was an actual mouth problem, so i caught her, and that made her cough up what i saw as an egg, and i know what pond and mystery snail eggs look like, and the only thing left who laid eggs were cories!
The next morning, i looked around and found on a sword leaf and my intake tube on my other filter, some cory eggs! I wish id taken pictures, but i was too excited! I scraped them off with a GameStop card, [Lol], and make a makeshift container for them. I used black, so i could see the eggs more clearly. There were two that were white, so using feeder tongs, and holding my breath, i separated them from the rest of the healthy eggs.
Attachment 57980
Attachment 57981
I set up an air pump, but didnt have an air stone, [must buy more!] so i zip tied nylon over the end, and got the end in the water. It really kinda roughed the eggs up, and i was worried about damaging them, but i had to go to work, so i left them.
Attachment 57984
When i got home, my boyfriend told me of a disaster. Apparently, the air hose rose up, and ended up spraying water everywhere, lowering and lowering the water in the container, and my boyfriend noticed just in time to add tank water to the container. He didnt know what to do so he just added water all night to the eggs. But because of the water spraying everywhere, it sprayed on my light fixtures, which im guessing were dusty.
It led to the dust particles sticking to the eggs, and looking like fungus! there were two other tufts of fuzz floating around, and that gave me a clue to what they were. The eggs were still the right color, and i could even see the eyes!
I held my breath, and with my trusty feeding tongs, i gently picked all the fuzz from the water and then the eggs.
I woke up the next day, refilled the fry container, and got to work. I got a clear container, and proceeded to poke the bottom full of pin pricks. I made sure to poke them from the inside, out because of the jagged edge. That way the inside of the container remains smooth. I did this so that when lifted a bit, excess food particles will easily flow out of the bottom of the container. I then refill with tank water. I find this is better that air line tubing, because i know the pin holes are too small for fry to slip into, while the air tube is definitely bigger, big enough to suck up guppy fry, who are much bigger than cory fry.
I then transferred the eggs to the new container and attached the airline tubing with a trusty hair clip [hair clips have never, EVER been used in hair, or have had chemicals on them. They were bought for fish stuff exclusively!] This helped the airline stay significantly lower in the water, and not splash water all over the place. Made huge bubbles, though, and moves the water around alot.
A few hours later, I discovered my first fry! I checked on them every few hours, oh hell, every half hour or so, and more and more hatched, until i had about 12-14 fry in there! There are some eggs that havent hatched yet, but i can still stt thier eye, so im leaving them til tomorrow..the more i have at the beginning, the more ill have at the end!
Attachment 57982
Attachment 57983
http://youtu.be/ZMs1i181t3M
http://youtu.be/lC1aaaNmsTc

Once about half of the eggs were hatched, i added java moss, which gives them a sense of security, and comfort, and a hiding place. The tend to actually just sit on the bottom, under it, than actually in it, like guppies, which is nice.
I didnt feed them for the first day or so, as they have theier eggs sac to feed off of. I saw a few of them without egg sacks, and decided to feed a bit of food.
I feed New Life Spectrum to all my fish, .5mm and 1.0mm, and i took the .5mm and crushed it in a terracotta piece, until it was powder.
When its feeding time, i add a VERY SMALL amount of food powder into a dixie cup, or medicine cup [one thats never touched any chemical] and use a syringe, keep several on hand for all my animals, or an eye dropper to add water to the cup, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then i sucked up the food particles at the bottom, and squirted it into the cup, then re-sucked it up, a few times. That makes the food particles finer and smaller, as fry mouths are tiny!
I let it sit for a minute, and then carefully sucked up the water, and i squirted the food gently at the cory fry, as they seem to have a hard time finding the food.
Before each feeding time, [i do about every four hours, or so, but ive read ever eight is okay. before a water change, i lift the container a bit out of the water, and all the old food particles drain out! Then i add water, and wait a few minutes, and then feed. some times i just add water, as i know the holes on the bottom do nothing for filtration.
I am now on my third day in, and i think im doing pretty well!
Heres my new set up, and another peek at the babies! =]
http://youtu.be/KeexgkHm7lg

[ErikO]

I think you'll make a good Cory mom! What kind of Cories do you have? I've never seen Cory eggs clumped together like yours.

[james1542]

Very ingenious rearing facility you have there . +1 to what coriy spp you have. Good luck and congratulations!

[LyzzaRyzz]

Thanks guys!
I am so nervous about them, since I've read people have a hard time with getting them to survive.
The eggs are clumped cause when I scraped em off, they all got stuck together! They laid em on my sword leaf and the intake tubing of one of my filters..super hard to get them off a curved surface!
I think I have fifteen in there? I'm hoping they all survive!
The cories I have are just emeralds and albinos. They seem to have a bit of darkness on their heads, so I'm assuming they are emeralds.
The food drainage actually seems to be working! Some of the peices are too big to fit through, but those I just syringe out. I haven't seen any of the babies actually eat, but I can't even see their whiskers yet! Lol

[LyzzaRyzz]

I just saw an albino female sucking on a male emerald!
And she's being quite the promiscuous girl too, trying to get any cory that swims by her.
But I CANNOT get a pic or vid of it!! So frustrating!
And I can't help being vulgar about it..I mean come on...She sucks the semen down and then it fertilizes her eggs...Tehe..maybe I'm just being immature about it.
But I don't mind!

[ErikO]

Is your emerald this? http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=114

If so it's a Btochis and not a Cory. Probable harder to breed than the albino.

[LyzzaRyzz]

Hmm...I'm not sure. I'll have to post a picture in the morning.
Can the two types interbreed? My fry have darkness o their heads, so I'm assuming they are the brochis/emerald babies...
How can you tell the difference?

[librarygirl]

Congrats! They are SOO cute!! I have to say I'm jealous; I've been hoping my Corys would spawn; they come close (do the dance, etc) but no eggs at all. I try water changes with cooler water but no dice. I actually think I might have all males lol Keep us posted on their progress!

[james1542]

Probably C. melanotaenia, but if it was brochis it probably wouldn't be able to cross with the common albinos. Oh the brochis have a very long face, that is the easy way to tell.

[LyzzaRyzz]

They seem to look exactly like the albinos, and since I saw the female gathering the sperm from one of the green one, I can safely assume its an actual cory! Thanks for the concern though, I learned a bit!

Don't be jealous, I don't even know how I did it! Maybe yours are laying eggs, bu the othe fish at eating them? I caught my gups eating them before I could rescue them.

I have a few more videos, just have to upload em!

[LyzzaRyzz]

So, as promised, a video, and i stole my moms camera to take some good shots of the babies!!

First, heres the mating pair. It was just after i saw her 'gathering sperm'. I just missed it!
Attachment 58130

Heres the video..=]
Im feeding them, thats why theres the syringe..
http://youtu.be/3lWAF4XH79Q
Theres also a guest appearance of my juvie apple snails, hes about five months old now..

Annnnd heres the pics!


Attachment 58133

These are from my moms camera, so i dunno how big they are..sorry if their huge!