AllFishNoBrakes

@mountaintoppufferkeeper Rad. That’s always my issue, too. The restaurant industry is brutal and I never get weekends off. PM me when you plan to attend next year! Would be cool to link at a meeting!

Congrats! So dope! CAS?

Home from work tonight and still not 30 or so little Cory’s in the tumbler. We’ll check in the morning and again when I get home from work. The good news (told ya I’m a bad news first kinda person) is that the eggs in the tumbler still look good. The two little fry in the Tupperware are kicking and I put a small dash of Hikari First Bites in the container. The 2.5 is set up (with a sponge filter for the first time ever!) and we patiently await these eggs hatching.

@Pepere Indeed. However, OP stated they were a first time fish keeper and bleeding air might be confusing. Any valve installed in line from the pump to the sponge could turn down the flow on a single sponge filter.

My Kribs on a black substrate looked amazing. One of the fish stores I sold them to put them on a white substrate and they looked horrible and washed out. I agree with @tolstoy21 that the change in substrate color washed them out.

Like @Pepere suggested, the Ziss premium air valve is excellent. In a pinch you should also be able to pick up any air valve from any big box store, I simply like the Ziss one and have tons of them

@nabokovfan87 Ya, for sure. I’m pretty puzzled why I’m having troubles after having a bunch of successful spawns, but it is what it is. We’re playing with nature and that’s just how it goes. I’m excited to add another Cory species, though! I’ve only ever hatched and raised my Albino’s so the opportunity to hatch and raise these Julii’s is exciting. Fingers crossed for some fry when I get back home today!

You guys want the bad news, or the good news first? I’m a fan of the bad news first, so that’s what we’re doing. Angelfish spawn is all fungused over and dead. Yup. For the second straight time once I’ve been feeling confident and wanted the share with the internet it failed again. My mom used to always say, “if I didn’t have bad luck I wouldn’t have any” and I’m definitely feeling that right now, lol. The ONLY thing I did differently from successful spawns in the past was splitting the nano usb air pump with a T for a second line into the Cory Tupperware. I thought it still had pretty good air flow, but that’s the only thing I can think of that was different. Oh well, the Angels will spawn again. And I’ll try again. And I’ll document again and hope that “third time’s the charm” for the public Angel spawn. Once again taking this as a sign that I should really just wait for the Panda pair again as they’re more worth my time, and also I should just focus on the Cory spawn. So ya, Cory spawn still seems to be doing well. An egg or 2 has fungused in the tumbler, but they’re spaced far enough apart from the others that I don’t believe it will affect anything else. Rolling the dice a bit, but call me crazy for wanting to see what happens. Hoping to have tiny Cory fry in the tumbler when I get home from work tomorrow. The first couple that hatched out are still kickin’ in the Tupperware and seem to be doing just fine. See pics below: Didn’t circle these pics, but I promise there’s a single fry in each one! Currently water changing about 90% of the Methylene Blue out of the 2.5 the Angel spawn was in as that will now be used to raise the Cory’s. Still thankful for this hobby and all the positives it brings to my life. Still amazed that I can make fish in glass boxes filled with water in my home. Still hopeful and excited for the Cory spawn. Until next time. Cheers.

This is where we stand this morning: I can see some little eyes in the Angel eggs. We’ll have wigglers in no time. Besides the completely infertile spawn earlier in this journal, I feel like this has a lot more infertile eggs than normal. This Amazon Sword leaf was pretty crinkly so I believed that to be the main culprit. When the Angels use the slate that’s completely flat I seem to have a higher fertility rate. All good though, I only want about 40 to survive anyways. Julii Cory’s continued to spawn. Single egg on a leaf. Expecting this to get eaten, but we’ll see what happens. Eggs in the tumbler looking good! The couple Julii’s in the Tupperware container are still kicking. Saw 2 little fry this morning. Couple of eggs left in there hanging out. I’m hoping the Angels become free swimming at the same time or before these Cory’s hatch out and are ready to move. Hoping to start taking the Methylene Blue out of the 2.5 gallon and begin raising the Cory’s and Angel’s in that same tank. I also have excess small ACO sponge filters from when I upgraded the grow out tank to mediums, so I’ll throw one of them in the 2.5 once I begin feeding. Never used a sponge in that little tank before, but I think it’ll give me some security. Onwards and upwards!

@Minanora Thanks! They’ve all been set up for a couple of years so they’re all pretty stable. Every once in a while I have to scrape some algae but mostly it’s just weekly water changes and squeezing some sponges every once in a while.

It is a floating mop intended for the Furcata’s. I had no idea the Julii’s would use it!

Lol, I have my hands full already with the 57 Angels I moved today, the Angel spawn on the counter, and now the 30 some Julii Cory’s. I have proof of concept through for the Furcata’s so once I open up some space I’ll start playing with them. Gonna just leave the mop in the tank and let them do their thing. Feeling like I should’ve stocked up on some 2.5 and 5 gallon tanks from PetCo with their cyber deals. Literally don’t know where I’d put them, though 😂

Alright Nerms, here we are a couple of hours later: The 3 barely hatched Cory’s and the few other (what I believe to be viable) eggs got set up in the Tupperware next to the Angel spawn that’s hatching. Matched tank temperature, set up an additional air stone, and threw in a small clump of Java Moss. Didn’t really want to do this, but it was necessary to free up the tumbler for todays spawn. Will it work? Unknown, but we’ll find out! I pulled all the fresh Julii eggs off the glass and then went through the mop. 33 eggs! Tumbler is back in the tank with the 33 new eggs. Furcata Rainbows are using this mop as well. I thought about setting up a little Tupperware with no air and a drop of Mthylene Blue to try and hatch these, but I’ve already taken up valuable countertop space with the Angel tank and Cory Tupperware experiment. My girlfriend already puts up with all the tanks and everything I already do, so didn’t wanna push my luck 😅. Also moved 57 Angels out of the 10 gallon and into the 55 grow out tank. It’s been quite the hobbyists day and I still have a couple of things on the list, and probably another tank or 2 of water changes for tomorrow. Time for an adult beverage; I earned it today! Cheers, Nerms!

@DiscusLover What’s your preferred method to cull? I’ve only ever used clove oil. Wish I had a giant Oscar or something, but I don’t and don’t have the space/time for an additional tank lol

We have our first signs of life in the tumbler! Gonna give it another day to see what/if anything else hatches out. I don’t work tomorrow so I have that luxury, and it gives me time to figure out where to put these guys, lol. Normally I’d put them in my 2.5 gallon tank, but that’s being used to hatch the Angel eggs. The trials and tribulations of an aquarist that likes to hatch eggs and raise fish… Edit: Took a break from maintenance so my girl could shower, and I’m literally watching these Cory’s spawn and lay more eggs. Let’s gooooo!!! Watched these get laid on the glass and took a picture 5 seconds later. Pretty cool to watch this whole process!

@Cwsignu To expand on what @Cory showed you can click on the 3 bars in the top right, click account, and then click profile and it will show you all sorts of fun information

@TheSwissAquarist I’m gonna move the ~40 I currently have out of the 10 gallon and into the 55 grow out. Perfect time to start another batch! Just wish they were Panda’s, but all my Angels are fun to raise up.

So many eggs right now! Hang tight! I’ll update regularly 👍

Take two (publicly) with the Angel eggs. Same set up as earlier in the journal. Fingers crossed this is a fertile spawn this time! If it isn’t I’m assuming the female is not paired up and is just laying eggs herself. Couple days and we’ll know!

@Cinnebuns Thanks for the tips! I have a mop in with my Furcata’s, and I also have Julii Cory’s in that tank. 2 nights ago I saw Cory eggs on the glass, so I pulled those and put them in a tumbler, and I went through the mop as well. Definitely a few, tiiiiny eggs in the mop which I assumed were from the Furcata’s and you seem to confirm that! I noticed some shrimp in the tank hanging out in the mop, but I wasn’t sure if they were just eating leftover bits of food or if they were cleaning eggs. I knew they would do that, but hadn’t personally seen it with my own eyes yet. I put those eggs in the tumbler as well and we’ll see what happens. Appreciate the Sera Micron over First Bites tip. I have both and definitely planned on trying First Bites, but will now use the Sera Micron assuming these eggs hatch.

@nabokovfan87 The Cory’s and Furcata’s are in one tank, and the Angel’s are in the next tank over. Now, if the Panda’s I’m working on pairing again in a separate tank decide they’re a pair and spawn then I’ll be in trouble 😅

Update: Eggs still look good! I don’t see any fungus and will continue to keep an eye. Also about 95% positive my Angels spawned again. I watched the female fanning the back side of an Amazon Sword leaf and chasing everyone away from that area. I’m too exhausted to set up the hatchery tonight, though. We’ll do that tomorrow before starting water changes and maintenance.

@nabokovfan87 Agreed with the clump being Cory eggs. There’s definitely a couple eggs I pulled out of the mop that are smaller than any Cory eggs I’ve personally seen, so I believe those are Furcata eggs. Only time will tell!

When I first started this hobby a few years ago I wanted nothing more than to have the dopest colony of Black Metal Lace Guppies anyone had ever seen. Alas, my water is not prime for that species… I tried several times, but soft water just couldn’t do the trick, and I’m not one to alter my water. Maybe one day!

This was my thought as well!