Journal - 29G Black Schultzei Corydoras Breeding Project

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Just go all caught up @nabokovfan87! Congratulations on the fry!!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:24 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Craziest thing to me is that I have 3 big box stores. 2 saltwater stores, 2 "other" stores that sell pet stuff and aquarium supplies and not one of them actually has meds that will help. Kind of pathetic.  Had to order them online and it's what literally should be a very common med, kanaplex.

Oddly enough I found some meds in Walmart. I think Kanaplex was there? They even had Jungle Fungus clear fizz tabs. Cheap too.

The fry are adorable. Do they just eat easy fry food? 

Edited November 14, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/14/2022 at 1:36 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Do they just eat easy fry food? 

They can.  They will get repashy and vibra bites and flake food right now.  For the first few weeks, probably just different kinds of repashy.  Once they get "big enough" I have mysis which is slightly hard for them to eat as well as spirulina brine.  The worms I have are gigantic and even the adults hardly enjoy them (so vibra bites it is).

[nabokovfan87]

Everything setup for moving them. Some are free swimming so I'm thinking late tonight or tomorrow morning I'll end up moving them. 

A few photos and a video of the check-in today.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Looks great!  Why do you have to divide the breeder box?

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/14/2022 at 3:44 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Looks great!  Why do you have to divide the breeder box?

All setup now.

The main reason is because it helps keep the fry out of the output.  Sometimes the input can be a bit tense and one of the tricks is that the first chamber you stuff with sponge, then you add in the baffle at the end if you have very small fry.  I ended up with 1 baffle in, at the end, just to try to keep them out of the output.  Corydoras just aren't going to swim, but we'll see how these behave.  I have it dialed in and hopefully flow is high enough for the fish, but gentle enough that they can relax and gain some strength. 

I saw a few dead fry, probably from flow in the tumbler or just my being new, and so I opted to move them.  I took the tumbler and poured that gently as possible into a half-full specimen container.  I went ahead and picked out the eggs and some of the junk and then I proceeded to move those into the breeder box.  It's definitely a very small fit. I also lost a male sword from this tank recently because it jumped and I didn't realize what it was.  SO..... Because of that. I give you my "solution".  It's definitely not perfect, but hopefully enough that the jumpy ones stay in the box of water instead of on the floor.



It's definitely not fool proof.  I am already seeing some fry with fins, others with yolks, and so it's a mix of odd timing with how long the fish spawned and hatching.  I did have fungus all over the eggs and so despite the Methylene Blue dose, it didn't matter much.  Egg clumps are just not fun and hopefully next time I can get them to tumble properly.  I can't say how many fry, but we'll check it out tomorrow and I'll keep everyone in suspense for now 🙂 .

I just really hope I can get these to a good size and successfully.  I know losses are part of it, but not these fish!

I checked on the other tank (back of the photo there) and fin rot isn't worse, but not improving as well as I'd like.  I will end up doing a WC and dosing in the new meds on tuesday when they arrive (kanaplex) and hopefully that starts another big improvement push.  I dosed last night, day 2 of Maracyn and so that's all I have on hand besides the salt to treat this.

For now, for today, given all the things going on and the hope for better successes, it's a big step for me as a hobbyist right now.  I appreciate all the help of everyone here and all the knowledge and guidance provided.  Someone might say it, some might not, but know that this is a great community with a ton of value for a hobbyist like myself where I don't have a local club, a local store, and much like you all I got deeper into it because of seeing Cory's videos.  So thank you for all the help this week.  Let's do this!

[Odd Duck]

It is so satisfying to get fry, isn’t it?  Good job!  I wish the Marina boxes had  another slot so you could put in both gates and a tiny bit of floss or sponge between to prevent tiny babies getting put.  I put the box onto the tank I wanted the fry to go into eventually, so for me it didn’t matter if a few slipped out early.  I figured with it on their eventual tank there would be no change in water parameter issues for the babies.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

You got this @nabokovfan87! 

Bummer about the fungus but you took every step you could to prevent it.
 

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

The main reason is because it helps keep the fry out of the output

Clever.

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

SO..... Because of that. I give you my "solution".

So fancy! 👑

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/14/2022 at 10:01 PM, Odd Duck said:

I wish the Marina boxes had  another slot so you could put in both gates and a tiny bit of floss or sponge between to prevent tiny babies getting put.

As someone who can literally, measure, design this box in about 8 hours of I had to do it quickly... It's amazing what products sit and have such simple design issues. One of my favorite things would be like these or AC HoBs. Just go in and update materials. That alone would drastically improve some of these old products. Yeah you need to test it, but that's an easy thing.

I wish these were longer. And I do like some mods I've seen of using an airline hose and tying it to a HOB/Valve. 

My first time using one for it's intended use and I can tell.the value because I'm not using a bucket, a tank, or something internal. It's just there and it "works". Some tweaks for sure would be helpful. I wish it had more positions for the gates, the fry got through the gate already. So it's just completely open now.

[nabokovfan87]

I still don't have any idea as to how many there are.

Feeding plan for now:
Day 1: Bottom Scratcher
Day 2: Soilent Green
Day 3: Community blend
Day 4: Soilent Greeen
Day 5: Bottom Scratcher (etc. etc.)

I think there is about 25-30 fry, maybe more, maybe less.  I really just cannot tell.  I do like that they have a lot easier time reaching the surface of the water to gulp air.  I couldn't imagine doing this in the actual tank with fish and I can understand why, even with cover, I would only get a handful of fry each time.  Big spawns, but ~10 or so on a good spawn.

Here's the check-in tonight.  Still very hard to photograph and focus with the reflections on the box.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:28 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Here's the check-in tonight.

I see em! Boy, aren’t they quick?

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/17/2022 at 5:28 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I still don't have any idea as to how many there are.

Feeding plan for now:
Day 1: Bottom Scratcher
Day 2: Soilent Green
Day 3: Community blend
Day 4: Soilent Greeen
Day 5: Bottom Scratcher (etc. etc.)

I think there is about 25-30 fry, maybe more, maybe less.  I really just cannot tell.  I do like that they have a lot easier time reaching the surface of the water to gulp air.  I couldn't imagine doing this in the actual tank with fish and I can understand why, even with cover, I would only get a handful of fry each time.  Big spawns, but ~10 or so on a good spawn.

Here's the check-in tonight.  Still very hard to photograph and focus with the reflections on the box.

 

They’ve got a bit of Artemis Rocket in them😂

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/17/2022 at 1:51 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I see em! Boy, aren’t they quick?

Yes! And very sensitive to the light. So I've just been trying to let them relax and eat. They look really cool from above.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/17/2022 at 11:35 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Yes! And very sensitive to the light. So I've just been trying to let them relax and eat. They look really cool from above.

Just got my own Cory (?) eggs yesterday!

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/17/2022 at 9:54 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Just got my own Cory (?) eggs yesterday!

That's awesome, what kind!? What else is in the tank?

Hopefully they do well for you.  It's definitely a more intriguing process pulling eggs to hatch and care for them manually.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/18/2022 at 8:15 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That's awesome, what kind!? What else is in the tank?

Palaeatus I think… tad boring, I know, but it’s probably better learning to walk a marathon before running it 😜

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/18/2022 at 12:00 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Palaeatus I think… tad boring, I know, but it’s probably better learning to walk a marathon before running it 😜

Very cool, never boring!  Best of luck with them,

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Congrats @TheSwissAquarist!

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/13/2022 at 11:36 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

EDIT: Very delayed update on testing 11/18/2022
Note: everything is a mess right now because I've changed to lean dosing and less light.
Temp: 71.1 (I'll end up bumping this up to 72 that way when it's colder things stay slightly warmer) 29G that needs 300W heaters feels ridiculous but that's how cold ambient is right now.
Phophate: N/A (did not test)
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm
GH: 300+
KH: 60
PH: 6.8-7.0
Chlorine: 0

Here is the "Testing results from last week" that I missed.  I went back in and added those.  New lighting, nitrates are very low, Awesome to see.  I cannot wait to FEED MORE to this tank.  I'll be happy at that point.  Because of some issues with my other tank I am going to try to keep PH a bit more in check and on the 7.0-7.2 side of things as opposed to the 6.5-7.0 side of things.  It's not a big adjustment, but because of the shrimp issues I saw this past week with cold water and PH slightly crashing, yeah... I need to be better about it.  My WC regime will be 2.5x 1/8 tsp scoops instead of the standard 2 I've been doing for each 5G bucket.

ALRIGHT. Now for the fun stuff.

@TheSwissAquarist you had asked about fry color.  This is about as young as I have ever seen them when colony breeding my corydoras.  This is when I am doing something major and I look real close and go... "alright, that moved" and I realize I can't change out decor or substrate because there's fry in there.  This is about a week or so before they get color, I would guess. Maybe two weeks. This is about 5 days old?  We can check the tape, but that feels about right.

You can see a fully formed fry now, they have internal organs, but it's just clear and translucent.  Some will get some pattering, but mine I think just go from this to black slowly.



And then I tried real hard to give you an idea on number of fry right now.  First a close up. 



And then zoomed out slightly a bit.  This was right before dinner for the fry.  It was good to see them excited for the late night snack 🙂



Fingers crossed all of these ones make it the full distance.  *knock on wood* and all of those superstitions handles as I typed this.... Seriously.

I just can't wait to see more corydoras all grown up.  Right now, they are about 1/4" long, maybe slightly smaller.  When they get to about 1/2" I stop worrying about em.

Sidenote. 50mm lens makes it a lot easier to take photos with the right focal length.  Sony Xperia 1 II phone for me, but just a tip for someone who wants to have a better time than me trying to take "macro" shots up close. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

!!!  So cute 😍

[nabokovfan87]

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'll try to get some top down photos tomorrow.  Maybe count them, but I doubt I'll be able to get an accurate one!

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/20/2022 at 6:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Here is the "Testing results from last week" that I missed.  I went back in and added those.  New lighting, nitrates are very low, Awesome to see.  I cannot wait to FEED MORE to this tank.  I'll be happy at that point.  Because of some issues with my other tank I am going to try to keep PH a bit more in check and on the 7.0-7.2 side of things as opposed to the 6.5-7.0 side of things.  It's not a big adjustment, but because of the shrimp issues I saw this past week with cold water and PH slightly crashing, yeah... I need to be better about it.  My WC regime will be 2.5x 1/8 tsp scoops instead of the standard 2 I've been doing for each 5G bucket.

ALRIGHT. Now for the fun stuff.

@TheSwissAquarist you had asked about fry color.  This is about as young as I have ever seen them when colony breeding my corydoras.  This is when I am doing something major and I look real close and go... "alright, that moved" and I realize I can't change out decor or substrate because there's fry in there.  This is about a week or so before they get color, I would guess. Maybe two weeks. This is about 5 days old?  We can check the tape, but that feels about right.

You can see a fully formed fry now, they have internal organs, but it's just clear and translucent.  Some will get some pattering, but mine I think just go from this to black slowly.



And then I tried real hard to give you an idea on number of fry right now.  First a close up. 



And then zoomed out slightly a bit.  This was right before dinner for the fry.  It was good to see them excited for the late night snack 🙂



Fingers crossed all of these ones make it the full distance.  *knock on wood* and all of those superstitions handles as I typed this.... Seriously.

I just can't wait to see more corydoras all grown up.  Right now, they are about 1/4" long, maybe slightly smaller.  When they get to about 1/2" I stop worrying about em.

Sidenote. 50mm lens makes it a lot easier to take photos with the right focal length.  Sony Xperia 1 II phone for me, but just a tip for someone who wants to have a better time than me trying to take "macro" shots up close. 

Thanks for posting this ! 👍 

[Odd Duck]

Happy for you with your fry!

They look a bit frantic compared to what my fry looked like at that point (bronzes and I’m still hoping to confirm some trilineatus).  Maybe try a few pieces of Catappa leaves layered together to give them more hiding places than just the moss cover?  Might help them be more settled and they grow good biofilm.  Put them in the tank with them as a “security blanket” when you do transfer them to the tank.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/21/2022 at 12:44 PM, Odd Duck said:

Happy for you with your fry!

They look a bit frantic compared to what my fry looked like at that point (bronzes and I’m still hoping to confirm some trilineatus).  Maybe try a few pieces of Catappa leaves layered together to give them more hiding places than just the moss cover?  Might help them be more settled and they grow good biofilm.  Put them in the tank with them as a “security blanket” when you do transfer them to the tank.

Thank you

I wish I had some cover for them.  I have been moving the moss around and stuff to clean and they have calmed down a ton.  They are still sensitive to light, which is probably why they seem so frantic.  At the point above I think it was 48-72 hours old?  There were some with yolk sacks still and they seem to have mellowed not they are a bit further along.  Probably double the size?

I wish ACO still sold the "nano twigs" and stuff like that.  I need to get some salt and I'll get some stuff to have on hand too.

How big are yours right now? Be sure to share photos when you can 🙂

[Odd Duck]

I am terrible about taking pics, especially when there’s some algae on the glass from deliberately overfeeding fry.  I need to pop a few more ramshorns into the tank.  The biggest fry are bronzes, of course, and the largest is nearly an inch long to tail tip already!  3/4” by SL.  The smallest runts are still only 1/2” long at best.  It’s looking more and more like they may all be bronzes, but there are a few that are getting decent sized that haven’t obviously “bronzed up” yet.  They still seem to have “fry” color, not showing any black in their dorsals, not getting distinctive rows of black speckles on their sides.  They’re just wearing standard brown, “I’m a cory fry” camouflage pattern, still.

I stare at them a good 10 minutes nearly every day when feeding, but no one as yet is showing as being distinctly trilineatus.  More and more of them that I thought might be tri’s are looking bronze.  At least no one looks like a hybrid, which is something that has worried me even though they are from different clades and shouldn’t hybridize.