Tropical Fish Forums

[Horsejumper902]

Hi everyone! So I have a very unusual situation here.
I've owned my 2 bronze Corys since February 2010 and today, right before they are about to move 5 hours away, they decided to lay eggs.
I have always dreamed of breeding Corys and raising the babies - I would be such a great fish mom! But I am totally bewildered at the horrible timing they chose.
First off, I'd like tips on how to move my Corys safely. Like I said, it is a 5 hour drive. The good thing is that they are going to a 20 gallon long tank that is already set up and ready for them at their new destination. I was planning to tear down their current 10g tank.

I can't tell you how much I want these eggs to survive, though. Can anyone give me any advice on how to handle this? Is there a way that the eggs could survive the journey? They are all stuck to the leaves of a plastic plant that I was planning on moving to the new tank.

I don't know anything about breeding Corys or any other fish. My White Clouds bred about 10 years ago when I was a kid and that's the extent of my experience.

Thanks in advance for any help!

p.s. the only other inhabitant of the tank is a lone Oto. He won't harm the eggs, will he?

p.p.s. today is Monday and the fish were scheduled to move with me either Saturday or Sunday - maybe the eggs will hatch by then?

[diademhill]

The eggs are scheduled to hatch before your move but let them go - once corys start breeding they do it repeatedly

If you have a spare airstone you could float the plant in a tupperware tub in the current tank and move any fry in a bag but they are unlikely to survive.
Have you checked your cories are not two females? If they are the eggs won't hatch.

[Horsejumper902]

That's great to know! I understand that the eggs probably aren't all fertilized and most of them won't make it, and the move may be too much stress on new fry. However, I am pretty certain that a few of the eggs are fertilized - I can see the little black spec inside them!

I moved the entire plant (and some extra eggs on the glass) into a mesh breeder I purchased last night to keep them safe.

I have always suspected that I had a male & a female Cory- one has always been much larger and fatter than the other.

I do have an air pump laying around that I was planning on using during the move. Lucky for me, my car actually has an outlet built in that it can be plugged into.

As a side note, I purchased two large styrofoam coolers last night at Target for the move. Will the fish (2 Corys, 1 Oto, and possible fry) be OK if I put them directly into the coolers (fry separated into another container/bag), or do they need to be lined with something first?

Another option I'm considering for the fry is filling my extra 5 gallon entirely with the old tank's water and keeping them in there (inside of the mesh breeder the eggs are in) for the move. Then I can keep them in that tank when I get to my new place to avoid a shock for them. What do you think?

[nikelodeon79]

The easiest way I've found for breeding cories is to put the adults into one tank for awhile, then remove them to a different tank. Chances are, they've laid/fertilized eggs in the old tank and all you have to do is watch and see.

I would personally set up a tank for your cory fry separate from the adults. They don't have to be all that big to be added to the main tank, but when they are eggs and when they first hatch the adults will definitely eat them.

FYI I would recommend a minimum of a 40g breeder for bronze corydoras, but a 20g long is definitely better than a 10g. When you set up your new tank, make sure to use a smooth, small grained sand substrate.
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