Best way to bag corydoras

[Karen B.]

Greetings!

I have a 20 gallons and initially had a population of 8 false julii cory (or julii according to the LFS that sold them but I have my doubt). They were babies but now as adults… we’ll let say the 6 remaining are reproducing like rabbits. I am not doing anything to keep the eggs, but I still am overstocked atm.

About 8-10 of the babies are now between 2-4 months so I sold them to someone. He’ll come pick them up by tomorrow. I expect I will have to remove a lot of things from the aquarium as my netting skills are null. It doesn’t bother me because I wanted to soak some plants in the shock excel treatment anyway.

This being said, what is the best way to bag my babies? Wait until the last minute tomorrow? Do it in advance and let them float 10ish hours in the aquarium? Gather them in a bucket with sand tonight so tomorrow I can easily put them in a bag? Catch them and let them spend the night in the large Fluval breeding box that hangs outside the aquarium but has water flow through it? My main goal is to minimize stress for them.

What about the poison or toxin it is said they release when stress? Will it happen when they are bagged? The guy has a 30 minutes drive back to his place…

[StevesFishTanks]

If you want to save time you can catch them now and put in another tank or use the breeder box. For bagging you can use the double bag method with one bag upside down. I have also used the plastic disposable Tupperware containers with the red lids.

[Griznatch]

 I get these clear plastic containers with breather holes in top from the dollar store. They work great for transporting fish.

You could try a fish trap with their favorite food. If you are going to net them, maybe use the two net method.  use one of the nets to corral them in to the other... I've saw a video (couple years ago) of someone setting a good size net on bottom of tank. They put some enticing food in it and waited for the fish to swim in to get the goodies, and then just scooped them out. I think it was a loach they were trying to catch without destroying the tank.

[Odd Duck]

When I was selling (then finally giving away because I ended up with over 1500 fry!) Jack Dempsey fry, I would catch everyone I was going to catch and put them in coolers with well-seasoned sponge filters from their own tanks, and a mix of tank water and fresh water (equal to about a 60% water change which was their routine water change) overnight.  Then I would bag them into part cooler water and fresh water (also equal to about a 60% water change) right before transport and send them on their way.  Sometimes with oxygen added to the bag, if they were going more than 30 minutes away, because I had the means.

Had a very good survival rate this way with the fry crowded more than I would for cories.  Out of 2 different groups of about 250 I took to a local wholesaler, I don’t know how they did afterwards other than there were no deaths in the bags as we unloaded them.  He never mentioned any issues with them.  These were the first I sent out before I did as many water changes or figured out how to put oxygen in the bags.  They were younger and smaller when transported to him.

Out of about 250 I sent with another person, 5 passed away.  Out of about 270 I took to the last person, 3 passed in transport and 5 managed to jump out of the tank overnight after transport.  I also sent from 20-40 to a few people with no issues, plus loads of singles, pairs, 5’s, 10’s, etc, (selling at swap meets) that I had no further information about.  No O2 into swap meet bags.

[gardenman]

Regarding the poison/toxin they're said to release, some Cory wholesalers catch them, put them in a bucket then drop the bucket a few times to stimulate them to release the toxins, then immediately catch them and move them to a new container full of fresh water. The theory is it takes them time to make more toxins and they shouldn't have time to make enough to be harmful before they arrive at their new destination. By chasing them, netting them, then dropping the bucket and netting them again, the wholesalers believe they get them to vent their toxins that are then discarded in the old water. Does it work or is it just a wive's tale? Who knows? I don't, but I've seen it done that way and some wholesalers swear by it. Some will do the netting and bucket transfer a few times to make sure they've all vented their toxins before shipping. It seems counterproductive to seriously stress out a fish before shipping, but if the fish releases a toxin when stressed, there's some logic to it.