Journal - 29G Black Schultzei Corydoras Breeding Project

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/21/2022 at 12:58 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I don't know what it is, but I really enjoy seeing corydoras do their thing

They remind me of excited puppy dogs romping around wagging their tails.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/14/2022 at 8:22 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

.  I did have fungus all over the eggs and so despite the Methylene Blue dose, it didn't matter much

Someone posted on @TheSwissAquarist journal that shrimp are egg nannies and keep the eggs clean of fungus.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/21/2022 at 3:44 PM, Odd Duck said:

Maybe try a few pieces of Catappa leaves layered together to give them more hiding places than just the moss cover

I believe @Fish Folk just did the same with the pleco babies.

[nabokovfan87]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea @Odd Duck Finally able to take a decent photo. LOL.

As promised, the top down view too.  Still editing the video.  Upload takes forever on 4k / youtube.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/21/2022 at 4:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea @Odd Duck Finally able to take a decent photo. LOL.

As promised, the top down view too.  Still editing the video.  Upload takes forever on 4k / youtube.

I just can’t believe how fast they’re growing.

[nabokovfan87]

Finally done.  Water change is completed. This was my morning moments. Enjoy!

 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/21/2022 at 11:04 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Finally done.  Water change is completed. This was my morning moments. Enjoy!

 

 

Love it! It was a nice way for me to wake up as well with that super chill soundtrack. That shrimp… is huge! @6:56

Your garden in the corner of the second tank is very nice.

The cory babies look nice & healthy (and cute).

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/22/2022 at 3:57 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Love it! It was a nice way for me to wake up as well with that super chill soundtrack. That shrimp… is huge! @6:56

One of the females, probably 4 years old? Longer? idk.  Had em for a while.  Pecktec has some massive Amanos!
 

On 11/22/2022 at 3:57 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Your garden in the corner of the second tank is very nice.

The cory babies look nice & healthy (and cute).

Thank you! 🙂

 

 

On 11/21/2022 at 1:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

ALRIGHT.... Just a reminder, this was 24 hours ago.  They have their patterns in now.  Pretty much all of them do.  Video is uploading.

I went in and pushed all the muck to the output side so I can siphon it off.  I already caught some of them doing up downs.  I realized some of them were trying to go after those little parasites / bugs or whatever was on the eggs.  I wish I knew what on earth they were, and then I laughed at my self, relieved, and felt like a massive moron.

We do know this tank has amano shrimp.  My sigh of relief was being able to see one of these critters on the side of the breeder box and seeing two small circles up top (or bottom) and then a larger oval shape as the main body.  I had to do a double take and then just laughed at myself because I had thought it might just be amano shrimp larvae.  Based on the way they move, the shape, I think I can difinitively say that it isn't amano shrimp zoeys/larvae.

For reference, this is what they look like.  I am so used to seeing them and just ignoring them.  They are almost always in the tank floating around as a food source.  In comparison I think they are about 2-4x the size of these little parasites/bugs that I have been trying to figure out what they are.


Whatever it is, they sort of dart, pause, dart again.  Somewhat light sensitive, but I just have no idea what they are.  They are all over the mulm and the moss and the corydoras are definitely trying to play with them or go after them.  I can't imagine it's something that is just in the breeder box, and I'm sure it's something in the tank as well, but they were concentrated on eating off the surface of the eggs.  That's the only clue I have as to what they are.

Maybe it's some sort of disease that was in the corydoras and came out with the eggs?  Internal parasites of some kind?  I wouldn't even know who to ask, but I'm at a loss.

I HOPE you can see it.  I cut a second video at the end of this, final minute or so that shows just the bug on the side of the container.

Edit: Yeah you can see it at the end.


Sidenote: here is LRB potentially with the same corydoras and can confirm, the eggs are sticky.  I tried looking for a video he has on this tank but the youtubes search doesn't really function.

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/22/2022 at 11:37 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Whatever it is, they sort of dart, pause, dart again.  Somewhat light sensitive, but I just have no idea what they are.  They are all over the mulm and the moss and the corydoras are definitely trying to play with them or go after them.  I can't imagine it's something that is just in the breeder box, and I'm sure it's something in the tank as well, but they were concentrated on eating off the surface of the eggs.  That's the only clue I have as to what they are.

two small circles up top (or bottom) and then a larger oval shape as the main body.

@modified lung @OnlyGenusCaps @Biotope Biologist Any ideas on this thing?

Here's a better screenshot off the video off my phone.

I am probably just going to dose in some salt and prazipro/cyropro (probably the second one makes sense)?

No idea if I should be concerned if this is something that can attack the fish (kind of why I really want to ID it).

Edited November 23, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@nabokovfan87 those are copepods. They are beneficial. They are tank cleaners.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/23/2022 at 2:37 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

  I realized some of them were trying to go after those little parasites / bugs or whatever was on the eggs.

They are good fry food. Some people culture them on purpose and feed those instead of, say, BBS.
copepods like to eat biofilm and algae. Congrats! Your tank has a “food web”.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/23/2022 at 2:05 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

They are tank cleaners.

Eat my algae!!!!! 😂

On 11/23/2022 at 2:32 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

They are good fry food. Some people culture them on purpose and feed those instead of, say, BBS.

I found a resource a while ago, it's a photographic encyclopedia for trying to look up these things. Modified lung has an entire journal for making cultures and crazy interesting things that make me wonder if I could ever feed live foods like that. I'll grab the link tomorrow, it's a really good resource. I don't have a microscope or anything but might try to get a magnifying glass or something to see if I can determine some better physical features and use that tool. I was trying to decide between two body shapes and I couldn't tell how the legs or antennae were formed. When they first started on the eggs they looked different. Sort of like little gnat flies on a plant or something is what I would equate it to.

I get the feeling BBS might be in my future, only ever fed frozen before, but we'll see.

I am tempted to release these guys into the tank but then I can't see them every day! I slightly turned up the flow and tomorrow I'm going to try to give them a better air gap at the top of the box. I get the feeling they want an airstone so I might drop one in.

[modified lung]

On 11/23/2022 at 12:25 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Any ideas on this thing?

Looks like a female cyclopoida, a type of copepod. The two little circles on it's back are egg sacks. They're good food for fish but they can eat baby Daphnia and rotifers so they can be a pest in live feed cultures. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/23/2022 at 7:18 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

When they first started on the eggs they looked different. Sort of like little gnat flies on a plant or something is what I would equate it to.

Then you may also have ostracods. Are they little dots that dart?

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/23/2022 at 5:02 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Then you may also have ostracods. Are they little dots that dart?

You can see it move on the end of that video. I'll try to get more.

As long as it's not parasitic to fish I'm ok with it.

The corydoras were surfing the tank and the moss and you could see the thing move away. I'll try to get my eyes to function and look up some photos to compare things to. It also might be something predating on the other things. (Meaning, it might not be a bigger form of the mites I saw, but something different)

[nabokovfan87]

Well, sad news.  I lost one of the fry today.

It was trying to gulp air at the surface, because I had sponge / fine pad to keep them from escaping through the gate, water level was slightly high and that's what led to it getting stuck on the ledge where the lid sits.  It looks like it may have just smashed into the lid or something.  I didn't catch it in time, which always sucks.  I installed the last divider, hopefully it helps the mulm to be removed and pushes the muck to the right side where I can just siphon it out.

In other bad news.  The fish with the fin rot looks to be doing worse.  I'll update things on that thread accordingly.  Still waiting for more meds to run through. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/26/2022 at 7:54 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Well, sad news.  I lost one of the fry today.

It was trying to gulp air at the surface, because I had sponge / fine pad to keep them from escaping through the gate, water level was slightly high and that's what led to it getting stuck on the ledge where the lid sits.  It looks like it may have just smashed into the lid or something.  I didn't catch it in time, which always sucks.  I installed the last divider, hopefully it helps the mulm to be removed and pushes the muck to the right side where I can just siphon it out.

In other bad news.  The fish with the fin rot looks to be doing worse.  I'll update things on that thread accordingly.  Still waiting for more meds to run through. 

I’m sorry.. that sucks…

Are you using Maracyn Two for the fin rot (different from Maracyn)?

Disease chart

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/27/2022 at 2:50 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Are you using Maracyn Two for the fin rot (different from Maracyn)?

Whatever I try next I have to order in. I'm leaning towards neoplex and jungle fizz tabs.

I'll try to track down some other stuff too and check active ingredients.

All of, or most of the seachem stuff treats gram negative issues. We'll see what I can find. Hopefully tomorrow I can make it to a few shops and check things out.

[nabokovfan87]

A couple photos cleaning things out today.

Edit: I count 23.

Edited November 27, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[TheSwissAquarist]

Awww, cute!! Nice haul!

[JJenna]

Congrats on the babies! Your fish room is fabulous!

[nabokovfan87]

Thank you @JJenna !

Update on today's events, the Amano shrimp are finally back to clean the lawn. 



Update 2:
Black Corydoras look like they are getting their full colors in.  They kind of look like they have little black helmets on right now, very adorable.

I added in some shrimp sticks to give them some calcium.  Did a spot dose on the problem spot.  I went ahead and did a ~40% WC as well which is now completed and finished up.  Not sure how I feel about the tidal right now, but as always the testing continues.

Water Test Results:
Temp: 72.3
Phosphate: no test
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
KH: 60
GH: 200-300
PH: Either it's 6.5-6.7 or it's 7.0-7.2 I can't tell.
 

Edited November 28, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/21/2022 at 1:03 PM, Odd Duck said:

I stare at them a good 10 minutes nearly every day when feeding, but no one as yet is showing as being distinctly trilineatus.

How are yours looking?

On 11/20/2022 at 9:58 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Checked on them this afternoon and I just had to pause for a second.  I really enjoy these fish.  I don't know what it is, but I really enjoy seeing corydoras do their thing.  Such interesting little creatures.  I think my other "dream fish" to breed is otos.  Not a fish, but amano shrimp are one as well.

I had this moment again. Just pure admiration for these little creatures in my care. They are getting bigger. Getting strong and fully formed.

I feel like a dad watching his daughter grow up and having to watch her first day of school or something. Hard to explain.

They should have full pattern in a few days and then I have to figure out if I will release them into the tank or keep growing them out. I am very much leaning towards keeping them in the box for now at least until they are a good enough size to not be chased around by the swordtails.

I walked in the room today and two of the biggest corydoras were hanging out by the front glass. I wish I could've grabbed the photo. One is a male I think that is ~3 inches and the other is the large female that is ~4+ inches. They could both be females. One had the typical black band with burnt orange above and below while the larger of the two that was completely blacked out. They were doing good today. Enjoying their little spot I made for em 🙂 .

I'll retest PH tomorrow just to verify what on earth I saw on the test strip.  I don't know why, I always have the hardest time reading those.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I recently tried the ACO ammonia test strips but I can never tell what the reading is between the 2 greens. So I just go by “blue says to change water” and the reading is not blue. 

And the API nitrate drops test is hard to read. I usually just guess “it’s between this and this.” If I use the strips I always get a zero reading which is clearly not right.

I use the API strips for pH, and that reading is clear.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/30/2022 at 2:34 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I recently tried the ACO ammonia test strips but I can never tell what the reading is between the 2 greens. So I just go by “blue says to change water” and the reading is not blue. 

When I use ammonia strips, basically any change leads me to do cleaning things.

On 11/30/2022 at 2:34 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

And the API nitrate drops test is hard to read. I usually just guess “it’s between this and this.” If I use the strips I always get a zero reading which is clearly not right.

hm. interesting.... post photos if you want. I have an analyzer 2000 I use for colors.  I suck with them at times, often with the PH reading.  Next time you get strips, try to find the tetra ones. Second to the ACO ones where you get a lot more per pack (100 vs. 20)

Fed the fish today, cleaned the fry moss out. Fixed the plants. etc.

Checking on illness in the other tank, fin issues, etc.  The one with the orange kind of reminds me of Kramer a little bit.  The other is definitely a male and will be joining the tank with the black corydoras soon.  His sword is starting to grow in a bit better now.


I woke up to the algae crew acting like an algae crew. Which makes me smile and very happy.  In the other tank they were waiting for me, but the tank WASN'T cloudy, which is nice. 



Always nice when the amanos decide to help and I want to give them 30 friends to do more help.  (I will always take anyone's amano shrimp donations for the tank. I very much enjoy them!)

Edited November 30, 2022 by nabokovfan87