Panda Cory Grow Out Tanks

[Cinnebuns]

Alright, now that I've become addicted to what I call adult Easter egg hunts, I have decided to actively breed my panda cories. Nothing too over the top. Just what i feel like doing. I'm trying to decide how I want to organize it. 

Tanks I have available are 10 gallon with ability to divide and 2-5 gallons. I have 2 ideas. What do you think of each?

First is my fav idea but idk if it would result in cannibalism. Keep the fry in a breeder box or 5 gallon from egg till 1 month old. After that they go into a 10 gallon, no divide, until 4 months old. This would mean 1 month olds housed with 4 month olds. Would they get eaten?  At 4 months they would go with the adults and at 6 months rehomed. If needed I suppose I could use a 5 gallon for month 2 and have months 3 and 4 in the 10. Part of the idea of this plan is to not have to use the 5s if I have to tho. 

Second idea uses all tanks. Between the divided 10 and 2 5s I have 4 "spots."  Each month I can just place eggs in a different spot keeping similar ages (within a month) together. Again, with the adult at 4 and out at 6. 

The biggest question therefore is, would 4 month olds eat 1 month olds?  Would they eat 2 month olds?

[Colu]

I use to breed.panda Cory's in 15 gallon species tank with most of the tank covered in a thick layer of Javan  moss I didn't notice them eating the eggs much I had lots of fry from that tank you you could remove the eggs to maximize the amount of fry you get  with a good layer of moss you will always get a good number of fry surviving 

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/10/2022 at 7:39 PM, Colu said:

good layer of moss you will always get a good number of fry surviving 

So, I've had bad luck with moss. Most of mine flsked off and made a huge mess. I got some healthier stuff from some snails I ordered online that I'm hoping grows out well but it's still small. That's a great tip tho!  If they don't cannibalize the young, I think I'm gonna keep all of the ones ages 1-4 months together. Here's to hoping it works!

[Brandon p]

I’m starting a land moss substrate tank and am Journaling  in the process I have already done this with a 20 gal with local moss. But in south Florida I ground moss is not ready available. The 29 gal has  ghost shrimp , ramshorn, blue mystery snails neons as nd black loache(  maybe to)

 

[cornelius85]

If you are going to actively breed them. It is best to use a spawning mop. That is what I do. I pull out eggs every day. Hatch them seperately in a breeder box and grow them seperately from the parents.

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/11/2022 at 8:28 AM, cornelius85 said:

If you are going to actively breed them. It is best to use a spawning mop. That is what I do. I pull out eggs every day. Hatch them seperately in a breeder box and grow them seperately from the parents.

That's exactly what I've been doing. I'm talking about after they are moved and hatched. 

[Brandon p]

After they hatch I put them in my grow outt Pleco tank 

[cornelius85]

On 3/13/2022 at 1:38 AM, Cinnebuns said:

That's exactly what I've been doing. I'm talking about after they are moved and hatched. 

Sorry appearently did not read your message thoroughly. You do not need to worry about bigger ones eating the smaller ones.  I grow them out in a 55g. At any given time there are fish ranging from 1 month old to 5 months old in that tank. If you are short on space you can even leave them with the parents. 

Edited March 14, 2022 by cornelius85

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/14/2022 at 2:57 PM, cornelius85 said:

Sorry appearently did not read your message thoroughly. You do not need to worry about bigger ones eating the smaller ones.  I grow them out in a 55g. At any given time there are fish ranging from 1 month old to 5 months old in that tank. If you are short on space you can even leave them with the parents. 

Ty that helps. I realized a few days after making this post that I have 2 fry that have been surviving on their own in my main tank. I estimate they are maybe 2 months old maybe a little more. They are now coming out and eating with the adults and show no fear. That tells me I could add in the adult tank before 4 months if needed like you said. A long way to say you are right and ty lol. 

There is one lingering question I have. Keep in mind, this isn't to maximize keeping every fry I possibly can, just moderate amount really. I recently was shocked when I finally saw how tiny cories are when they first hatch. And I thought guppy fry was small! That makes me wonder if newly hatched fry are safe. What I've seen of them after 1-2 weeks they look like they would be safe from older siblings, but the new ones worry me. To add to this, they easily fit through my breeder box. Would it be wise for me to keep them in a smaller tank for a week or 2 first or would i be safe to hatch them in a breeder box given they will likely get out of it?

[cornelius85]

You are saying that you are not aiming for every one of them to survive so you do not need to bother with a smaller tank just hatch them out and release them. This way all some of them might not survive , but it is not because of predation, they might not be able to compete for food with bigger fish. The Reason I keep them in breeder box for a month, is for them to get to food easier without any competition, and grow out quicker. After a month they dont have any problems with getting food.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

It's a control thing - do you want to control all the circumstances they run into for the first months of life when they are most fragile, or a hybrid keep them safe for a month and keep all the fry together and insure a high yield or do you want to be lazy and let nature take its course colony breeding and have a good but not great yield? With the later overfeeding and frequent water changes will help that method be more successful but runs the risk of parameter shifts.  I think either way you will reach a critical mass of breeding adults and the act of one pair breeding and their release of pheromones will trigger the others. It's just what kind of breeder/keeper you want to be, both are just fine and it's just a personal choice.