[Huston, we have a problem. (The story of an accidental angel spawn)🤪😍🥸]

Hadn’t seen the fry in about 2 days, until this morning. Baby Girl and Ricky were frantically scooping up runaways. Or it that swimaways?  Then tonight:

[Are panda corys hard to breed?]

To be honest, (like you’d want me to lie) I never pull the eggs with either of the Corydoras I breed.  In fact, I never see panda eggs.  The sailfins frequently deposit on the glass, but my pandas like hiding the in the plants. I primarily feed flake and tetra shrimp wafers, and occasionally frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. 
 

I think the trick is to have lots of hiding spots for the babies 👶 (forgive the dirty tank in the pictures below, it’s time for a wc.  And the water level is low, so lots of bubbles where the HOB spills into the tank)

[Tropical Fish Outdoors in the Summertime?]

I would love to try yellow labs, if my wife would let me move the goldfish out   

 

[Tropical Fish Outdoors in the Summertime?]

I luv summer tubbing!  
I done plattys, goldfish, and mollys. I had great luck breeding the plattys, and the goldfish live in the tub year round. @Fish Folk bred some of the prettiest guppies as well.  Highly recommended.  
here are a few links:

 

[Huston, we have a problem. (The story of an accidental angel spawn)🤪😍🥸]

I went ahead moved the other two. I needed someone to control the cherry shrimp population in my 20 tall anyhow.  She celebrated by moving the baby’s again

[Huston, we have a problem. (The story of an accidental angel spawn)🤪😍🥸]

Last April, Hank and Lucy spawned, and I actually was able raise several of fry.  A few went to @Beardedbillygoat1975, a few were sold at ye ol’ LPS, and I kept the three smallest, hoping for a female for Ricky.  Since the, I’ve half heartedly tried and failed to repeat.  

Then, three days ago one of the three I kept, let’s call her Baby Girl, finally spawned.  Figuring it was her first attempt, and given they live in my BNP breeding tank, I just let her keep them.  No WAY they could raise the babies.  Not with 2 other angels and a mess of hungry plecos.  Welp, 3 days later, still hast most of the eggs/wrigglers and successfully moved them to a new leaf. 

Here’s the problem: the other angels are still in the tank.  Baby Girl isn’t happy about it, so taking a poll -

should I move the other angels, or just keep on?

[Get to know everyone - 10 questions]

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?

when I was a kid, my sister had a tank of mollys.  

2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?

my 75 gal discus tank 

3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?

you tube.   I came back to the hobby a few years back.  I was trying to figure out why my tank was so cloudy.  It wasn’t a bacteria bloom, but the rest of the internet was convinced it was.  Cory had to videos, one helped me figure out it was algae, the other the rant about canister filters. He made me think, and saved me a ton of money.  So when he mentioned the forum, I was all in.

4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?

I don’t know about easier, but I would like to see a reimagined HOB.  Maybe use an Archimedes screw to lift the water, and chamber running across the back of the tank. I hate messing with/cleaning impellers, and there isn’t enough room in any of the current HOB’s.

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

how to talk my wife into “just one more tank”

6.  What fish do you miss most?

I had an amazing African cichlids named sonny when I lived in Germany 20 years ago.  

7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?

I like weekly changes mostly because it gives me  ‘touch time’ with them.  But the tap water is too cold during the winter.  So I’ve backed off on the changes for my 75.

8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?

why not both?  20s are great for breeding projects and increasing variety, but big tanks are just plain easier. 

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?

does today count?

10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

I love feeding frozen bloodworms with a pipette (brine shrimp is a close second)  watching fish race across the tank to slurp up worms is so fun.  

 

[Algae or ice scraper?!]

You need to keep all that ice stuff on your side of the state line!  Been tryin’ to spill over here in Louisiana all week, and tomorrow morning the low is 29.  

[Shape of Tank and Substrate for Discus]

First: @Fish Folkis a way better fish keeper than I. 
 

I have my 5 discus in a 75 with 2 angels, a couple bristlenose plecos and a few cardinal tetras.  I keep the water around 83, and (keeping in the internet breaking theme)haven’t changed water in about three weeks.  Not recommended, but I don’t have a great way to fill it.  I normally use a hose run through the dog door, but the water is just a little too 🥶 chilly with winter going on.  Last water change I lost a few tetras from the shock, so I’m watching the water perimeters.  
 

I have ecocomplete under a layer of gravel an 20 lbs of crushed coral.  The tank is only 8 months old but seems like it is running smooth.

 

 

 

These pictures were at feeding time, please excuse all the food floating in the pictures 

[Sterbai Cories Spawning in the community tank!]

@TheSwissAquarist  yup, those are Amazon swords. They really shine whin you have a big enough tank for them.  I had one in my 37 gal, way too much plant for them.  

[Sterbai Cories Spawning in the community tank!]

@Lennie I don’t do anything special for my corycats.  I feed tetra shrimp wafers and or Repashy. Occasionally frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp.

 

I haven’t bred pigmy corys, but I have a tank full of pandas and a tank with red sailfin corys. 
 

here are a few pics of my discus tank.  I’m horrible at journaling .

 

 

[Sterbai Cories Spawning in the community tank!]

On 1/15/2023 at 4:29 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

What kind of moss are you using? I’ve been trying to get viable fry from corydoras for ages!

If you start a thread on cory breeding, I’m sure we can help you get your Cory breeding factory going.  

[Sterbai Cories Spawning in the community tank!]

Your tank is heaven for community tank, colony cory breeding!  I never pull the parents, and manage sell some every month.  

[Need Help With Seeding A New Aquarium]

IMO: 10 gallons and 3 corys.  Not much of a bio load.  If you moved a well seasoned sponge over, you should be able to move them pretty fast.  Just monitor your water closely, and don’t add any other fish for a while. 

[Finally!]

Thanks.  @PerceptivePesce  

[Finally!]

It been a solid 6 months since I posted here, so here’s an update.

I lost one of the discus, but the other 5 remain solid.  I’ve decided, me and gab’s don’t do well.  The plants have filled in, though they need some root tabs.  I had a problem with cloudy water, so I added a marineland hob to polish the water.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blackwater Bloody Mary Neo Setup]

It it possible the pictures just suck, but the fish are actually nice?

[Blackwater Bloody Mary Neo Setup]

On 1/10/2023 at 1:04 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I will start by saying that if you haven't seen travelers in netflix, please go ahead and bookmark that!

Secondly, let's take a nice long breath here and exhale slowly.....

For months now I have been interested in something extremely specific and adding that to my fish tank.  I realized that parameters fit, that I had the space, and I realized that it was something that could easily turn into a "breeding for profit" project.  My last one took 2 years to get a fry, and 3 to get enough to actually sell a batch, so let's all hope things work a bit smoother this time!

I am at a crossroads and without divulging too much I do want to poll those here and ask for some help.  I did make a "guidance please!" thread, but I want to, obscurely so, start a bit of a record and dive into what I really need some help deciding.  I'll keep things brief for now, obtuse, but I will eventually reveal what is going on, if that happens and when it makes sense to do so.

Hopefully you enjoy the journey and fingers crossed that everything works out in the end....

First question, Would you choose quantity or quality?  The choice I have right now is to decide to get less species in the tank of the one in question, or do I go with a less reliable, lower quality source, but I have better overall genetics?  Do I order from both and mix the strains? (visually they do look like extremely different quality.  One of them I would call an A++ genetic strain and the other appears to be a D- at best.... not remotely close.

Lastly, would you follow the common guidance from others around you, or would you trust your own skill and technique moreso?  Do I trust that I truly have experience with this species and understand what they need to thrive.... or do I follow the warnings from friends who may have cautioned a very, very different approach?  Should I risk it, or is the risk simply that I don't do what I think is best?  Again, this really ties into the first choice. Losing 1 or 2 when you buy in 5-6 is very different than losing that qty when you purchase 10-20 of a species.

Decisions Decisions.....

As for a clue as to what this is, It involved my Mopani tank. Grace the Shark, and hopefully a secondary breeding project that is far less work to accomplish some results.

D- quality is a non-starter.  
if you were talking B+, then 10-20 might be better than 5 or 6 depending on price. 

 

 

[Aquarium Backgrounds]

 

 

I’m another outlier, but prefer a stone appearance.

here is the build out…..

 

[PLECO caves]

I found this little terra cotta pot on Amazon a few years ago.  It’s bubba’s favorite spawning cave.  The hole is about 1 inch, and he has to squeeze into it.  But I never want for a fresh batch of plecos!

 

!
 

 

the adult in picture 2 is bubba, about 2 years ago.  He’s bigger now….

 

[COOP plants in Discus temps?]

I have similar results as @Fish Folk with my swords, crypts, etc. they just aren’t as stunning.  

[Angel Fish thinks he is a Corydora]

Fish are weird.  I wasn’t able to get all my discus at the exact same time.  I had three adult angles in the tank already. It made a bee line over to them, like one of the family.  It took a couple weeks and an angle spawn to break the habit.  

[Help with Corydoras]

On 1/9/2023 at 6:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

If you can, try to take some photos backed off a bit, focused a bit sharper and so we can see the whole body on the sides of the fish.

Especially the first few photos it's really difficult to see the shape due to the focus / blur.

Most "green corydoras" usually means one of two things...

emerald green or salt + Pepper corydoras

Emerald Green:


These guys are easy to tell because of the defined snout and the defined large size.  Of corydoras species, these ones do get bigger, broader, and sort of remind me of Arnold Schwarzenegger so to speak.

Peppered Cory (Corydoras Paleatus):  These guys do stay small and do like cooler temps. Very similar to panda.

These ones look like @Ken Burke's Venezuelan (actual Venezuelan) corydoras fry.

 

had to get the ol’ way-back machine out.the first picture could be venezuelanus  

 

[What's the best Repashy food to condition Corydoras?]

@nabokovfan87 I’ve use the Ipago Explorer, bottom scratcher, even morning wood.  They are ok, but not really special from what I could see.  I really like mixing the soilent green community plus, especially form my plecos.  

[What's the best Repashy food to condition Corydoras?]

Honestly?  Community Plus. Bottom Scratcher is another solid option.  
 

I drop in a cube as I head to bed.  Gone by morning.  I have noticed that my pandas aren’t as keen on it, but the sailfins are coocoo for coco puffs