HELP! Sterbais Constantly Breeding

[Lennie]

Hey guys,

Hope you are doing well.

I have 5 sterbai corys in my 29g. I got them as juviniles, ended up as 1m, 4f.

25C, 8.0 ph, 9 gh, 20kh. Weekly water changes, %25.

So for the last 3 months or so, my sterbai corys have been constantly laying eggs and mating. The eggs are almost always being eaten by rummy noses sadly. I don't want to raise any babies anyway. If any manage to make it, it would be nice to have. But I don't intentionally seperate any to raise them, as I have no place to home these many sterbais.

My question is, them being in mating mood nonstop must be tiring for the fish, no? How can I potentially decrease their breeding mood? I feel like constantly developing eggs and being in breeding mood must be very tiring for the fish and its body.

I feel like my only boi is tired of dealing with all females too, they are willing to mate everyday lately 😄 Glass surfing, mating, laying eggs, eating. And repeating all in a daily basis. NONSTOP. They barely spare time to  sleep and sifting around lately. I'm seriously thinking this is gonna negatively affect the fish.

I have rabbit snails and other tropical fish in their tank which enjoy these temperatures, so I cannot go lower than 25C really. Sterbais were my intentional choice as they usually go in warmer temps. So yeah.

 

Here is a picture of the ladies.

 

Any suggestions/ opinions to decrease the breeding behavior? Or to keep in a healthy level?

@Odd Duck Could you please help if this is okay or would this constant breeding action may negatively  affect the fish considering it has been occuring nonstop?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Lennie

[Theplatymaster]

@Lennieinteresting discussion topic.

Usually hobbyistly when fish are breeding its a good thing,

however scientifically it changes.

In nature there is a phenomenon that happens where if animals are stressed, or experiencing a population decrease, they will breed at an exponential rate to try and raise the population number.

Im not sure if thats what it is, yours seem healthy.

Have you been feeding?

maybe try stopping feeding so that they will stop breeding?

[Lennie]

On 3/6/2023 at 10:28 PM, Theplatymaster said:

Have you been feeding?

Ofcourse! 

They get different food each meal every day of the week. They are spoiled 😄

I cannot stop feeding as the tank is a community tank, and I have an L199 pleco as well which feeds from bottom.

I thought maybe it is the weekly water changes. I skipped a water change but nope, they kept going for it.

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/6/2023 at 2:34 PM, Lennie said:

I cannot stop feeding as the tank is a community tank, and I have an L199 pleco as well which feeds from bottom.

pretty much all healthy adult fish can miss feeding for a few days,

otherwise maybe try to collect some eggs and get some fry?

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/6/2023 at 10:49 AM, Lennie said:

Any suggestions/ opinions to decrease the breeding behavior? Or to keep in a healthy level?

Temperature itself will increase breeding activity. 

Feeding less food, feeding more omnivore stuff as opposed to protein, feeding less might help them to calm down.  When you get heavy with the food it could trigger them again. 

Females doing up/downs is normal and fine.  That's what you expect to see from corydoras when they are content.  It's part of their exploration and playing with the flow as well as trying to find spots when they are breeding.   You'll often catch them doing that in the path of air bubbles or that side of the tank.

Give them at least 2 weeks of light feeding and to recover a bit.  Check for scrapes and sores too just from rubbing against the substrate.

[Cinnebuns]

On 3/6/2023 at 4:58 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

feeding more omnivore stuff as opposed to protein,

This is exactly my thoughts so I wanna 2nd it. They do need protein but decrease how much they get and females will produce fewer eggs. More algae wafers and veg and less shrimp pellets. 

[Lennie]

On 3/7/2023 at 12:15 PM, Cinnebuns said:

This is exactly my thoughts so I wanna 2nd it. They do need protein but decrease how much they get and females will produce fewer eggs. More algae wafers and veg and less shrimp pellets. 

😞

my pleco is on the carnivor side so I have to drop meaty food for him at least 3-4 times in a week. And corys usually go for his wafers too.

I try to feed a balance diet of spiriluna and algae wafers too!  But my corys don't seem to be that interested in those food. I have NLS Algaemax, Hikari algae mini and Sera Spirulina tabs. They get these around 3-4 times a week too.

I will try to change their diet more omnivorous and try to see how it goes

 

 

[Cinnebuns]

Have you tried blanched veggies or no salt added green beans?  In my experience the entire tank goes nutty when that's dropped in. 

The green beans can be super easy. The hardest part of them is that 1 can lasts forever. I portion them out using ice cube trays and freeze them so they don't go bad. 

[Lennie]

On 3/7/2023 at 12:25 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Have you tried blanched veggies or no salt added green beans?  In my experience the entire tank goes nutty when that's dropped in. 

Always! I'm a big snail fan. I have rabbits, ramshorns, MTS and mysteries! So tanks get blanched veggies and snellos.

Only snails and barely shrimps show any interest in my case

[Miska]

Give me the babies? 

[Lennie]

On 3/7/2023 at 5:09 PM, Miska said:

Give me the babies? 

I would love to! Come to Turkey 😄

[Odd Duck]

Good suggestions here with reducing protein and feeding a bit lighter overall.  Skipping some water changes can slow things down, too.  One of the big triggers for cories is water changes with cooler water, so use tank temp water instead of cooler water when doing water changes.  Try to avoid water changes when there are big weather/pressure changes as that combo can also be a trigger for breeding.

You may not be able to stop it completely but limiting meaty foods, controlling overall protein, and lighter feedings will help.  Warm/tank temperature water changes instead of cooler water during changes and avoiding or skipping water changes close to storms.