Too many Cory babies

[Salsadoo]

I have a heavily planted 20 long and started with 8 pygmy corys. Now I think I have about 15 and today I noticed them doing the chasing and mating thing again. My tank was comfortably stocked in the beginning now its heavily stocked and pretty soon I have a feeling that I'm going to be overrun with pygmy corys. Anybody have any ideas on how to get them to stop? There is a gaggle of chili rasboras, a couple hillstream loaches, about five cherry shrimp, and a single honey gourami. I was thinking of rehoming the chili's and some of the more amorous Cory's them putting in something that will actively eat the Cory eggs. Anybody have any ideas on a fish that will play nice and eat eggs?

[Tihshho]

Getting them to stop means making them not happy, if they are breeding it's because the tank parameters and the food they are getting are what they need. If you want to stop the breeding, pull all of one sex of the Corys, all male or all females you won't get babies.

 

[Vanish]

Give them to me!? 😄 I wish my cories were self-raising!

[ARMYVET]

Let them breed like rabbits and give them away to friends or the LFS.  I would not upset the stable and obviously perfect ecosystem you have going.  Heck send them to me. I would happily take them.   I have Blue Leopard Corys that spawned once and I got 5 eggs and only 2 hatched.  I wish I had the success you are having!

[ARMYVET]

On 9/13/2021 at 5:06 PM, Vanish said:

Give them to me!? 😄 I wish my cories were self-raising!

Oh no I saw them first🤣 

Just took me longer to type my response...lol

[RyanU]

I have twelve myself in a grow out tank right now. I plan on keeping six and selling the rest back to my lfs where I bought the originals. I'm pretty sure most lfs will take them, either for cash or store credit.  Or like @ARMYVET said, Give them away to friends. 

[Salsadoo]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:53 PM, RyanU said:

I have twelve myself in a grow out tank right now. I plan on keeping six and selling the rest back to my lfs where I bought the originals. I'm pretty sure most lfs will take them, either for cash or store credit.  Or like @ARMYVET said, Give them away to friends. 

Yeah I wouldn't mind just rehoming the babies but those buggers are hard as heck to catch. Plus they are in a pretty heavily planted tank with way too many hiding places. I'll probably just replace the chili rasboras in the tank with something that will snack on the eggs... I think their mouths are a bit too small to eat them.

[Odd Duck]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:26 PM, Salsadoo said:

Yeah I wouldn't mind just rehoming the babies but those buggers are hard as heck to catch. Plus they are in a pretty heavily planted tank with way too many hiding places. I'll probably just replace the chili rasboras in the tank with something that will snack on the eggs... I think their mouths are a bit too small to eat them.

You can make a fish trap from a soda or water bottle to catch the extra cories if they’re small enough.  You’ll need a bottle with a bigger opening if they’re full grown.  Bait it with their favorite food and place it where they will find it quickly.  You may catch extra fish, too.

I’m still in search of the perfect larger bottle for bigger fish that has a larger mouth to the bottle. I’m thinking about combining a 2 liter soda bottle with a Gatorade bottle top for the bigger opening.

 

[Salsadoo]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:41 PM, Odd Duck said:

You can make a fish trap from a soda or water bottle to catch the extra cories if they’re small enough.  You’ll need a bottle with a bigger opening if they’re full grown.  Bait it with their favorite food and place it where they will find it quickly.  You may catch extra fish, too.

I’m still in search of the perfect larger bottle for bigger fish that has a larger mouth to the bottle. I’m thinking about combining a 2 liter soda bottle with a Gatorade bottle top for the bigger opening.

 

 

Ok that's smart. I might have to try that.

[Odd Duck]

As soon as I find the right bottle I plan to catch a few cory juvies out of my 100 gallon, but my current bottle isn’t big enough and the opening isn’t big enough.  I tried to make one from a large, rectangular juice bottle, but the inverted top doesn’t fit snug enough to the bottle and I’m afraid a baby could get caught in it trying to escape.

[Torrey]

@Odd Duck Bolthouse Farms large bottles work.

Just takes a little practice to cut in the right place 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 9/13/2021 at 2:50 PM, Salsadoo said:

Anybody have any ideas on how to get them to stop?

My first try is normally thinning the plants a bit and adjust the feedings down to a few times a week. Less food encourages finding food in the form of eggs in this case. Everything, in my experience,  eats fish eggs when they can get to them and are hungry.  

Edited September 16, 2021 by mountaintoppufferkeeper