Breeding Corydoras habrosus (Guidance would be useful)

[memorywrangler]

My C. habrosus spawned ahead of schedule.  Any tips on caring for the eggs/fry would be welcome!

I bought a group of 6 small C. habrosus a couple months ago and grew them out in my community tank.  It looks like I have 4 males and 2 females.

A few weeks ago,  moved them to new 5 gallon on my desk with a honey gourami so I could enjoy their antics and maybe get them to spawn.

I've been conditioning them on black worms, BBS, and grindal worms for a couple weeks while they got settled into their new tank.

 I had read I should do cool, soft water changes, so I was going to purchase some RO water, but I didn't a routine WC last night and found four eggs this morning!  They stuck them in random spots, so I suspect their may be more.

They are a little ahead of my research and planning, so if anyone has any tips for caring for the eggs and fry, that would be really helpful!

  

[memorywrangler]

Well, leaving them in place turns out not to be possible -- I lost one to an assassin snail.  Lesson learned...

So, the three remaining eggs are in a breeder box.  Here's two of them.

[Guppysnail]

They should be fine in the breeder box. Once they hatch add an airstone with a flow control so you do not blow them out of the container. Add some fast growing plant or moss to help with ammonia control and bring in microorganisms for them to snack on. 

Feed fry food lightly after they absorb their yolk sac belly.  Once they are big enough live baby brine shrimp puts size on them quick. 
 

Monitor ammonia it gets crazy quick in tiny containers. test 3x a day use prime or a conditioner that combats ammonia. Lots of water changes and remove uneaten food. 
A small 5 gallon tank would be less risky and you could add a seasoned sponge filter.

This may help 

 

[memorywrangler]

Thanks for the pointers!

My breeder box is one of the hang-on-the-side-with-a-pump to bring water in from the main tank, so I think things should be pretty stable.  Interestingly, something about the flow pattern of the breeder box causes micro-fauna to collect in there which will hopefully be good eating.   I'll add some moss for good measure.

[nabokovfan87]

I have a section of my journal I can link where I showed my setup and method.  (you're 99% of the way there though)

For feeding I used repashy powdered foods that I had on hand.  Take whatever the big corydoras like to eat, use a mortar and pestle and grind it as fine as you can and just give a small amount several times a day.  You can use something like a fine brush and just tap the end in the powder, that's plenty of food.  Every few days be sure to clean the container with something like an airline hose as the siphon or a turkey baster.

[memorywrangler]

I have 3 eggs that seem viable.  The fourth landed in the sand, is covered in sand grains, and now has critters inside it, so I think it's a goner.

The egg is 1.6mm in diameter.  Their appearance has not changed at all since they were laid, but the embryos have started moving, as you can seed in the linked video.  There's been no more spawning, unfortunately.  

[memorywrangler]

Alas, all the eggs seemed to have died.  They got all encrusted with ciliates maybe mold.  One held on until yesterday, but this morning the eggs membrane was split open and the fry was gone.  I've looked and looked and can't find it anywhere, so I think it got eaten.

Next time I'll go the "clean" hatching route with methylene blue.  Live and learn.