Surprise Fry!!!

[smm333]

OMG! So I did some tank maintenance on November 1st. I cut a bunch of plants that were overgrown and taking over. A lot of my plants in one tank had a bunch of mulm on them, so I was trying to clean it up a bit. The tank is a 20 long, planted with 5 Cory's and 3 male guppies. I also took a few plants from my 10 gallon planted african dwarf frog tank- there are 4 of them living with snails. The plants were put in a large Tupperware in my bathroom. I rinsed them to remove mulm and left it to continue rinsing and remove baby snails. Yesterday I was taking tiny snails off the side when I saw movement and discovered a tiny fry! I scooped it into a Dixie cup. Searching now in a panic I found a 2nd one. That was all, but I left the plants and added a sprinkle of fry food as a precaution. I'm heartbroken that I probably dumped eggs down the sink 😭. I had no idea anyone was breeding. I'm assuming they are corydoras because they have more hiding spots for eggs- lots of Christmas moss in addition to dense areas of stem plants. The frog tank has plants, but not as dense since they don't see as well. I like to give them room to move around easily. But, I am not sure! I put them in a net breeder in my livingroom tank and fed them powdered fry food. They zipped about when the food was added, so I assume they were eating!  I added a few stems and a couple frogbit plants for them to feel safe. 

Both are alive this morning. I fed them the fry food again. I am so excited and nervous! I'd planned to go buy some platy fish today, but maybe I'll wait til this excitment dies down, lol! 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/13/2022 at 6:24 PM, smm333 said:

OMG! So I did some tank maintenance on November 1st. I cut a bunch of plants that were overgrown and taking over. A lot of my plants in one tank had a bunch of mulm on them, so I was trying to clean it up a bit. The tank is a 20 long, planted with 5 Cory's and 3 male guppies. I also took a few plants from my 10 gallon planted african dwarf frog tank- there are 4 of them living with snails. The plants were put in a large Tupperware in my bathroom. I rinsed them to remove mulm and left it to continue rinsing and remove baby snails. Yesterday I was taking tiny snails off the side when I saw movement and discovered a tiny fry! I scooped it into a Dixie cup. Searching now in a panic I found a 2nd one. That was all, but I left the plants and added a sprinkle of fry food as a precaution. I'm heartbroken that I probably dumped eggs down the sink 😭. I had no idea anyone was breeding. I'm assuming they are corydoras because they have more hiding spots for eggs- lots of Christmas moss in addition to dense areas of stem plants. The frog tank has plants, but not as dense since they don't see as well. I like to give them room to move around easily. But, I am not sure! I put them in a net breeder in my livingroom tank and fed them powdered fry food. They zipped about when the food was added, so I assume they were eating!  I added a few stems and a couple frogbit plants for them to feel safe. 

Both are alive this morning. I fed them the fry food again. I am so excited and nervous! I'd planned to go buy some platy fish today, but maybe I'll wait til this excitment dies down, lol! 

Nice! What species of Corydora are they??

[Patrick_G]

I think surprise fry are the best part of the hobby. I still have a clear memory from when I was about 5. I woke up one morning and was laying there looking at my bedside guppy tank when I noticed there were more fish in the tank than when I went to sleep! 

[smm333]

On 11/13/2022 at 10:03 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Nice! What species of Corydora are they??

I got them originally from petco and the tag said spotted cory. Watching Cory in an aquarium co-op video I have identified them as salt and pepper or paleatus. They are definitely the common type found here in the Pacific Northwest. I've had them for well over a year, so I was surprised they are breeding, although I moved them a few months ago from a tank with a betta. I guess they must be happier now and have more places to lay eggs. Now I want to find eggs and hatch more! They definately aren't using the glass which is a bummer. That seems much easier!

On 11/13/2022 at 10:24 AM, Patrick_G said:

I think surprise fry are the best part of the hobby. I still have a clear memory from when I was about 5. I woke up one morning and was laying there looking at my bedside guppy tank when I noticed there were more fish in the tank than when I went to sleep! 

Absolutely! I've never seen egg layer fry, so it was shocking! I always hear about people finding mystery fry after purchasing plants and think "why can't that happen to me?!" Well, surprise! They are from my own tank, but I'm thrilled to have them!

Edited November 13, 2022 by smm333
Misspelling

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/13/2022 at 7:46 PM, smm333 said:

I got them originally from petco and the tag said spotted cory. Watching Cory in an aquarium co-op video I have identified them as salt and pepper or paleatus. They are definitely the common type found here in the Pacific Northwest. I've had them for well over a year, so I was surprised they are breeding, although I moved them a few months ago from a tank with a betta. I guess they must be happier now and have more places to lay eggs. Now I want to find eggs and hatch more! They definately aren't using the glass which is a bummer. That seems much easier!

Absolutely! I've never seen egg layer fry, so it was shocking! I always hear about people finding mystery fry after purchasing plants and think "why can't that happen to me?!" Well, surprise! They are from my own tank, but I'm thrilled to have them!

Well, congratulations either way! I remember it was during COVID when I got off remote learning and my little guppies had dropped some fry. I still have a very old one!

Come to think of it my Palaeatus have also been spawning, I might start looking properly in the right half of this tank:

[OceanTruth]

Congratulations on the surprise fry! What a nice little gift. They must be happy if they’re breeding I always think. 👍

[Patrick_G]

@TheSwissAquarist, nice looking tank! Is that Hygrophila Angustifolia on the left? 

[PineSong]

I'm always jealous of folks with surprise fry! I'm never surprised by my livebearer fry anymore, just overwhelmed, lol. But I would be so excited to find a baby white cloud, tetra or otocinclus. No such luck, just infinite infinite guppies, lol.

Enjoy those speckled babies! So cute!

[Liddojunior]

Surprise fry is the best ! But also scary. I’m always scared I’ll be throwing away baby fish when I trim plants and floaters. 

Fish eggs are common in my plants and moss so I’m stressed during plant maintenance  🥲

[smm333]

On 11/16/2022 at 8:29 AM, Liddojunior said:

Surprise fry is the best ! But also scary. I’m always scared I’ll be throwing away baby fish when I trim plants and floaters. 

Fish eggs are common in my plants and moss so I’m stressed during plant maintenance  🥲

Yes!!! I have never had babies and I feel sick that I was RINSING THESE PLANTS!!! 😭 Never again. All my trimmings are bucket bound undisturbed until anything that may be there can hatch out! 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/17/2022 at 3:16 AM, smm333 said:

Yes!!! I have never had babies and I feel sick that I was RINSING THESE PLANTS!!! 😭 Never again. All my trimmings are bucket bound undisturbed until anything that may be there can hatch out! 

Give it maybe 5 days or so for most of them to hatch 😉.