Should I take this personal?

[Cinnebuns]

My cories spawned last night so I did not expect them to spawn tonight. I didn't sleep much last night so I was super tired and looking forward to sleeping when I noticed the same female decided to spawn again tonight. I decided to stay awake and collect eggs because my fry count is down. I have checked the spawning mops several times already and have only found 1 egg. I KNOW she's laid more than that. I watched her as she was laying a couple and she's completely ignoring the mops and laying them in dense areas of plants where I would have a hard time finding them. I'm not gonna try.

I think she did this intentionally!!

Lol. Anyone else sometimes think their fish/snails/shrimp/etc are out to get them?

[TeeJay]

Yes I think she was trying to tell you she's the boss and she will lay her eggs where she wants. 😮😃

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/3/2022 at 9:18 PM, Cinnebuns said:

I'm not gonna try.

So.... Her plan worked and she protected her eggs from poachers. LOL.

Nature doing what it should be doing!  Smart fish you got there.

She will very likely take very good care of her eggs. Drop some methylene blue in the tank and give her a chance 😉

The surface she is laying on is moss or what plant?

On 6/3/2022 at 9:18 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Lol. Anyone else sometimes think their fish/snails/shrimp/etc are out to get them?

Yes.... They are definitely "personable" and definitely defiant when they want to be!  I try to give them everything, but they aren't happy enough, so I wait for them to tell me they are perfectly happy.

[Cinnebuns]

On 6/4/2022 at 12:27 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

The surface she is laying on is moss or what plant?

Anubias Nana petite and buce wavy green right next to each other. I could pull the structure they are attached to out and try to see if i can find any but I'm not that ambitious. 

[nabokovfan87]

Top of the leaves!? That's so interesting.  I have 3-4 kinds of anubias.  I have the elongated leaves, nana, nana petite, and coffefolia.  Out of all of those, and even valisnaria, they tended towards coffefolia and the moss that I had.  (It wasn't java moss, but something I got from petco). 

I am literally sitting here staring down adding a 5th variety of anubias to the tank.  It's so interesting! Decisions.... decisions....

[Cinnebuns]

On 6/4/2022 at 12:46 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Top of the leaves!?

No she wedges herself underneath the plant. She did it from time to time when it was just the anubias and the buce wasn't there but now she does it more often. How do I tell her that her eggs are more likely to be eaten there vs the mop?  Although, I do often find half eaten eggs in the mop so idk how true that is lol

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/3/2022 at 10:57 PM, Cinnebuns said:

How do I tell her that her eggs are more likely to be eaten there vs the mop?

Well when the mop stays and the plant is moved around.... She won't want her eggs touched. She wants to protect them essentially.  This is why pleco caves turn into cory night clubs. Mama cory is the guard and you can't get in the discotech. LOL.

I'm guessing this is why some "breeder tanks" are specifically void of plants.  Maybe this is why Dean doesn't have them! LOL, no no no, he's said he just can't keep them alive, but it's an interesting thing to consider.

[Cinnebuns]

On 6/4/2022 at 1:00 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Well when the mop stays and the plant is moved around.... She won't want her eggs touched. She wants to protect them essentially.  This is why pleco caves turn into cory night clubs. Mama cory is the guard and you can't get in the discotech. LOL.

I'm guessing this is why some "breeder tanks" are specifically void of plants.  Maybe this is why Dean doesn't have them! LOL, no no no, he's said he just can't keep them alive, but it's an interesting thing to consider.

That completely makes sense. When I first started using the spawning mops she would exclusively lay in them with few exceptions. Now it seems the other way around. I did end up getting a couple more eggs for a total of 5. Undecided if that was worth staying up for. I enjoyed what I did with my time on the forums and some other conversations so I think it was likely worth it. 

I will add, this is where I draw the line between hobby and job. If it was my job I would HAVE to stay up to collect eggs and likely wouldn't have plants she could lay in and if she did i would hunt them down. Since it's for fun, I do what I want!

[nabokovfan87]

To be fair. mine do not care what a mop is and I've never had a fish lay eggs in a mop. I thought I did a good job making mops. It's ok.  One day.....

 

On 6/3/2022 at 11:05 PM, Cinnebuns said:

I will add, this is where I draw the line between hobby and job. If it was my job I would HAVE to stay up to collect eggs and likely wouldn't have plants she could lay in and if she did i would hunt them down. Since it's for fun, I do what I want!

Sounds like my herd of panda's.  They'll work it out.  They were going crazy, but they've slowed down as their tank got smaller due to moving.  I really do enjoy the herd, but I also enjoy the herd right where it's at.