Catching Cory Fry?

[Ken]

Twice now I’ve had the Panda Cory’s in my 40 breeder heavily planted community tank hatch out fry. I see them for about a day and then they disappear. I don’t know if the Golden WCMMs eat them or if they starve. Either way I’d like to get them into the breeder box to save them. I have everything in place for next time except one part… I have no idea how to catch them. They are tiny, move fast and have lots of hiding places. Would a turkey baster or small gravel vac hurt them? I don’t think I could net them.

[Nat]

1 hour ago, Ken said:

Twice now I’ve had the Panda Cory’s in my 40 breeder heavily planted community tank hatch out fry. I see them for about a day and then they disappear. I don’t know if the Golden WCMMs eat them or if they starve. Either way I’d like to get them into the breeder box to save them. I have everything in place for next time except one part… I have no idea how to catch them. They are tiny, move fast and have lots of hiding places. Would a turkey baster or small gravel vac hurt them? I don’t think I could net them.

I’ve used a turkey baster to move several day old fry with no issues - I wasn’t able to net them either hah. 

So far I’ve pulled eggs, when I can find them, hatched in a breeder box, and then transferred them from the box to my grow out tank using the turkey baster and it has seemed to work well. 

 

*edit to add - they were corydoras fry - forgot to mention that 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Nat

[gardenman]

Removing the eggs is easier than catching the fry. When I see Cory eggs they're typically on my glass, so I use a razor blade to gently scrape them off and transfer them to a breeding box or net. If they've bred on a plant leaf I'll just snip off that leaf and move it to the box/net.

[gardenman]

One more note, they'd be very unlikely to starve in an established tank. There are a ton of microorganism in most established tanks and a baby Cory doesn't need much to survive. Most likely something else ate them or they got sucked into a filter.

[ChefConfit]

I agree with @gardenman moving the eggs before they hatch is much easier. I remove them from the glasses by rolling them off with my finger as suggested by @Dean’s Fishroom in a video awhile back. If they're on plants I cut off the leaves and move the whole leaf. I've got about 40 fry/juveniles in grow out tanks now

[Ken]

I still haven't seen an egg, my tank is just too overgrown but... so far I've seen 3 a one time. One finally stayed out long enough for a picture.