Theplatymaster's NEW journal: A treacherous 20.

[Theplatymaster]

@nabokovfan87hopefully, im being very strict with my egg seperation process, if it doesnt look EXTREMELY amber/fertile its platy food, ive had such bad luck with this in the past, im determined to succeed right now. ive raised the temp back up to 78 to try to speed up hatching a little so there are less chances for fungusing on the eggs. Once they hatch im going to try to have live BBS ready for them as soon as they've started wiggling, ive starved cory fry once too. I will need to setup my ziss breeder box once they hatch and move them there, so i dont need to constantly do water changes, then after a few weeks (And once my platy females in the 5 have given birth) they will get moved into the 5gallon which should be full of platy fry by then, ive raised these fry in harmony before i can do it again, assuming there is no extreme size difference, which there shouldn't be.

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/9/2023 at 4:54 PM, Theplatymaster said:

ive raised the temp back up to 78 to try to speed up hatching a little so there are less chances for fungusing on the eggs.

Raising temps increases algae, bacteria , fungus sometimes.

What is the temp normally?

On 2/9/2023 at 4:54 PM, Theplatymaster said:

ive starved cory fry once too.

How often do you feed them each day for the first 2 weeks?

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/9/2023 at 8:09 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

What is the temp normally?

the temp is normally 78, i dropped it to 76 and they bred, but i raised it back to 78 now, higher temps can increase algae? I need to lower my temps then, im having minor algae issues.

 

On 2/9/2023 at 8:09 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

How often do you feed them each day for the first 2 weeks?

the last (and only) time i had cory fry, i tried to feed them at least twice a day, and i really tried to get BBS to them at least once a day, my issue last time was i left them in the ziss tumbler for too long, and i cant feed them in there, so now whenever i see wigglers i put some food in and the ones that can eat, eat, and the others will get food the next day.

I can count 16 eggs right now and they all appear viable. My estimate is they hatch on sunday which will be day 5since they were layed, but with a day or two margain of error.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

im not posting pictures because i dealt with it already, but i found a dead platy today.

I saw no symptoms on the fish of disease or harassment but my theory is she died giving birth. I dont really know. Its sad, but not detrimental to me as i have plenty of other platies, its not like my Panda garra died. (Please dont die Garra Guy). 

[Theplatymaster]

as expected i had corydoras hatch today! 😄 no way ill get a picture of them in this stage, once they get older i be able to get a picture though, after a traumatizing experience (for me and the fry) i moved them from their catch cup hatching container to a breeder box. I am harvesting BBS as i type to feed to them.

Hoping for success!

jar full of fresh BBS^

also a poem/rhyme:

Having Trouble Getting Your Fish To Spawn

Does Watching Your Fish Eat Make You Yawn

Try Something New, Its Fun, Trust Me

Feed Your Fish Something That Comes From The Sea

You Buy Eggs and Hatch It

Then Take a Lamp and Latch It

Feed Your Fish Live Things They'll Enjoy

It'll  Be Like a Kid Getting a New Toy

Give It a Try, Its Like Riding a Blimp

Feed Your Fish Some Freshly Hatched Baby Brine Shrimp.

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Theplatymaster
added an AWESOME poem!

[Theplatymaster]

There are corydoras in here:

 

Cant see them? dont worry neither can i. (i need to look very hard to see them, itll be easier tonight when they'll have BBS bellies.)

i am going to do the "squeeze the sponge filter" trick, to try to get tons of little detritivores in here as a food source, and give the little cories some  hiding spots. Ive seen no detriments using this method, and ive seen copepods and detritus worms in squeezed out filter media water, so this should work fine, itll just make the fry harder to see, but at this point they are already really hard to see.

so i messed it up amd got stuff all over my tank. Here is a picture: looks like a great time for a water change!

once i get my water change done, i will get my cory fry some food. I have used my Easy Fry and Small Fish Food for a while and it was around halfway full, so i mixed in Hikari First Bites, and Crushed krill flake. I wish i didnt though, as i like first bites because its bright orange so it lets me know they are eating, i guess i could just crush the flake and get the red belly effect. Ill also add in some water from my copepod/infusoria/green water culture, to try to get some little things for the fry to eat.

[Theplatymaster]

ive done a water change.

I had to remember to take some old water out for the herbs, and i want to check it for little creatures later (Ex. Copepods, Detritus Worms).

The water in my tank is still dirt even after the water change, but i have my HOB running so it should help take care of it.

Ive crushed some flake for the corydora fry, they are too small to know if they're eating yet. Im really hoping they are, i have BBS that i will be harvesting for them tonight.

everything else going moderatly well. I do need to trim back on my platy population soon, i have too many, and definetly too many Males, that are fighting all them time. (Nipping and chasing each other, no damage seen though).

Im still waiting for my platies in the 5 to drop fry, but i have another few weeks till they'll be ready.

[Theplatymaster]

I just got a really good picture of Garra Guy (He was sitting on the leaf very still for a while which made photographing him easy) :

 

Should i make this my new Profile Picture? what do you guys think?

[Theplatymaster]

Corydora Fry are still alive! I added some live BBS to their breeder box (Most went out the bottom where the big fish got to eat it) but i saw movement in the fry! Im hoping for orange bellies, but they might not be hungry yet, i shall set up my hatcher again for tommorow.

[Theplatymaster]

There was a cory fry right up at the wall, i wanted to photograph it so bad, i went to get my camera, and it had moved. Cory fry are doing well, definetly bigger then they were yesterday.

Ive got BBS in the hatcher, it should be ready tommorow afternoon for some BBS feeding to the fry and the "big" fish. (Big fish is a term i use for non fry fish).

I plan on feeding the fry 2 times a day, once in the morning, once in the evening, but i might be able to do 3 times.

For dry foods i have Easy Fry food, mixed with Hikari First Bites, and in the evening i will be feeding live BBS.

here is a picture of the breeder box (Cory Fry is circled):

[nabokovfan87]

That's awesome. Hopefully you can get these ones to grow out for you! It takes practice and definitely a fun skill to learn.

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/12/2023 at 7:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It takes practice and definitely a fun skill to learn.

Yeah, ive been learning from my mistakes. For example, i was very strict on egg sepertation this time, because in past experiences doing nothing, killed all the eggs.

I am hoping to grow these out successfully and not have air pump issues like my last batch, i think i will have good succcess if i can get the fry eating BBS and powder food this week. (They seemed curious by the BBS today, but they might not be at a stage where they can eat it). Breeding fish is fun for sure, but it can be SO frustrating.

I have a friend interested in some of the fish i breed, and also someone was told about me who also wants platies from me. It would be nice if i could add corydoras to my list of things i breed. (Many fish would go to the LFS though)I think my issue is im lazy with separating eggs, and dont do it correctly, but if i do it right, i can have lots of success breeding this fish.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

Update:

Corydora fry are eating!!!!! 😄 . I saw two in the breeder box this morning and their bellies were pinkish orangish, BBS color! Other update, they oe result from my previous successful corydora breeding adventure, is mature, i saw it trying to "t" with the bigger corydoras this morning. my tank looks so good, because the water is clear!

breeding behaviour from cories but so far they've laid no eggs.

here is a picture of Garra Guy:

as well as a general photo of my tank:

to re

to revise my statement my corydoras just layed eggs, but i couldnt get them because i misplaced my catch cup. but ill be ready next time!

Edited February 13, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/13/2023 at 3:05 AM, Theplatymaster said:

to revise my statement my corydoras just layed eggs, but i couldnt get them because i misplaced my catch cup. but ill be ready next time!

There should be plenty of hides in there.  I would just let them do their thing now that you have some fry growing up.

[Theplatymaster]

@nabokovfan87 good point, i just was thinking "more is better".

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/13/2023 at 12:39 PM, Theplatymaster said:

@nabokovfan87 good point, i just was thinking "more is better".

Yeah. I don't know how emeralds are. My pandas were literally a hivemind.  Get to 30, then settle.  When I rehomed half of them, they went back to breeding pretty readily again.  Maybe it's a waste management thing. But it was always cool, still is fun to see 2-3 different size corydoras in the tank.

[Theplatymaster]

@nabokovfan87 i need to go harvest BBS, but it will be fun for me once i can get the cories to a larger size and can keep them in the main tank with the rest of the cories, just having a large shoal sounds fun. (i might need to rehome platies to avoid overstocking, but ive been needing to trim down on my colony for a while), however i dont think i will keep most of the fry once they grow up.

[Theplatymaster]

as predicted i came home today and found signs of eaten eggs, they laid 1batch before i left, and most have laid more when i was away.

signs of eaten eggs (what i call "egg spots" which im aware means something different in African Cichlids)

its sad i couldnt get them, but as @nabokovfan87pointed out, i already have fry so its not like im missing my chance to have fry.

Fry update: I saw one moving around today with a pink belly, they are still very small, i have 6minutes left on my timer before they get some BBS.  ive realized the stupid things i do, for example.

Say this box is my tank:

using this model as an example, yes i may have just made the french flag.

So the red sign faces my bed, i like this side to be clear for better observation purpouses, the blue side does not face my bed, and i dont care if its cloudy with algae, but i always put breeder boxes on the side closer to my bed, even though it makes that side REALLY hard to algae scrape. I dont feel like changing it, i just feel like pointing it out. ill post later, ive got to go harvest BBS!

 

[Theplatymaster]

Anyone want some BBS?

[Theplatymaster]

Great News!

after flooding my 5 gallon tank with BBS (i used over half on that tank, note to self it should be the LAST tank to get BBS) i added the remainder to my breeder box, i could count 7 corydora fry from a birds eye veiw, and once i added the BBS, i saw them actively going around hunting BBS, and their bellies were Pink. I think ill have good success with these fish, i have them eating already!

My one problem is getting powder food to them, as i think it falls through the holes in the bottom, which is why im working on an auto BBS feeder. i have a question though.

can BBS live unheated in salt water? do they just need the heat to hatch?

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[Theplatymaster]

Update: Corydoras were breeding, again.

I managed to get some eggs this time, once they hatched and are free swimming they will join my other fry.

i just tried to get more eggs, and it turns out that platies are not afraid of my hand, i could not get the eggs, as the platies wanted them more, and were trying to get around my hand, so i couldnt get eggs again.

 

[Theplatymaster]

Corydora fry are in here, can you spot any? (if you cant i dont blame you, the photo is bad)

I counted 8.

[Theplatymaster]

John, John, John...

my poor little betta,

when will you realize you are NOT big enough to eat whole crab cuisine pellets.

[Theplatymaster]

I really am spoiling my fish on this stuff, but its worth it for baby corydoras. (still alive and happy).

 

[Theplatymaster]

I would like to thank @Guppysnail for the help she gave me without realizing it.

I was looking at @A3M0N's journal and guppysnail suggested suction cupping anubias to a tank wall, and it made me think. I have a large anubias in my tank that WILL NOT no matter what i do, stick the the wood with super glue, but its near the wall, so i have just used an airline holder suction cup, to hold it in place, much easier now.

the other thing thats new is ANOTHER sick platy, looks external, she has been moved to my 2gallon tank, which now has ick-x and maracyn dosed in it (for a small tank i used approximate amounts).

but il get the expert on this @Colu here is a picture:

c

 

fish wont behave for a picture, but its a small white patch at the back of the fish.

(the other large platy possibly has culimanaris, this tank is a hospital tank at the moment)