Can't spawn my Pygmy Corydoras

[captmicha]

First time I've made a serious effort and I don't think they're going to spawn. I know I should have more but I've got five in their own ten gallon. Planted, driftwood, dim lighting, box filter, sand, 8.6 pH, 75-80 degrees.

I gave them a week of conditioning with baby red wrigglers once a day and pellets or zooplankton the other meal of the day. At the same time, I let a lot of water evaporate.

Them I've been doing 75% water changes with 10 degrees cooler water every night and have added more water flow, since Sunday night, but nothing is happening. I don't see any spawning happening yet.

Any feedback? What could I be doing differently? Are they supposed to spawn AFTER I'm done with daily water changes?


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[npbarca]

I've heard putting some ice cubes in the tank will make them spawn.

 

[chriscoli]

A lot of cories respond to barometric pressure drops.....might have to just watch the weather.

 

[dogofwar]

I'm no Cory expert but 8.6 pH seems high for them.

Matt

 

[mchambers]

I agree with all of these suggestions, especially as to pH.

Having said that, I've never figured out what makes cories spawn. For me, the most reliable trigger seems to be moving them to a different tank, but sometimes even that doesn't work.

 

[Becca]

8.6 is high, they do respond to barometric pressure, and they like to lay in areas with high flow, so adding a power head or a few air stones rested up against smooth surfaces might not hurt.

We used to simulate drought conditions - just a couple inches of water in the tank - and would sometimes put the males in a separate 2.5 gallon placed in the middle of a 40B while conditioning the females.

Then we'd simulate flood conditions.

Also, you only have 5, so are you sure you have males and females? How old are they? Are they mature?

If it's your first try, don't get too discouraged. It takes time to get it right and only a week of conditioning really isn't all that much. Patience is key.

 

[mchambers]

Interesting point about separating the males and females while conditioning the females. I've been thinking about doing this with other corydoras. I know this is common practice with other fish, especially eggs scatterers like tetras and danios. I haven't seen much mention of this with corydoras. I'm curious if anyone here has tried it or knows more as to whether it is recommended by experts.

 

[dogofwar]

It's times like this when I wish that we could just link to a video of one of our past speakers.

Arthur, who's bred like 100 different cories, gave so many tips, tricks and insights it's hard to remember them all.

Here's a thread from that time: http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17373&highlight=arthur

Can anyone contact of channel Arthur?

Matt

 

[mchambers]

Here are my notes from Arthur's talk (warning: I'm not very good at taking notes):

Stop keeping bottom of tank clean
Some corydoras will bury their eggs
Temps: *he doesn't use heaters, 68-73
Pea gravel
Plain dirt
Leaves
Roots of floating plants
Tank raised are much easier to spawn

Corys are big eaters, binge eater
90% of what he feeds are blackworms. *Rest are flakes, brine shrimp, sinking pellets
Feeds 2 days on and 3 off
Doesn't feed babies for first five days, let them feed on stuff in tank
Then 2-4 times a day. *60% decap BBS
Ken's fry food, etc., all work fine

Do not clean bottom of tank! *And starve them

Water changes 20% a week
Neutral ph -7.0

Tricks:
Drain water very low, feed for 2 days, then refill

Drain water before a storm, refill as storm arrives

Better to move parents and leave eggs
Can commingle Cory fry, 100-150 in a 20 long

Keep males of different species in a single tank, females in another tank, then reintroduce

Cory's seem to like shallower water, especially babies

 

[mchambers]

Here's a Planet Catfish discussion where folks suggest that you should not separate males and females:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30688

 

[Becca]

Here's a Planet Catfish discussion where folks suggest that you should not separate males and females:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30688

We didn't always separate them, but gave it a try now and then when they hadn't spawned in a while.

The low water level/ letting water get pretty nasty trick definitely worked. We always used bare bottom tanks and got more Cory spawns in winter than in summer because summer temps were always pretty high.

 

[mchambers]

My best period for fish spawns came after the 2012 derecho, and a 5 day power outage, during which I lowered the water levels and didn't feed. About two weeks later I had lots of spawns. But it sounds like Captmicha has tried low water levels.

 

[chriscoli]

Interesting point about separating the males and females while conditioning the females. I've been thinking about doing this with other corydoras. I know this is common practice with other fish, especially eggs scatterers like tetras and danios. I haven't seen much mention of this with corydoras. I'm curious if anyone here has tried it or knows more as to whether it is recommended by experts.

it's recommended for some Synodontis...

 

[captmicha]

I meant 6.8 pH!!! I'm dyslexic JUST when writing pH, for some reason... Just did it on Planetcatfish too!

Have to go out but will read and respond to all these great comments tonight.

 

[captmicha]

Do not clean bottom of tank! *And starve them

Yeah, kind of confused about that. And the cooler temps when simulating the dry period, wouldn't the water be warmer since it's shallower, and also getting more light and heat creating the evaporation? Then overcast and colder during the wet season?

I'm pretty confused about the time line here for what he recommends.

Also, how long should they be conditioned for?

TY!

 

[mchambers]

As to my notes, Arthur said that having mulm and leaf litter on the bottom of the tank was good for fry. He thought that having the fish go several days without feeding stimulated spawning. (He said something to the effect that people don't want to procreate after a meal.)

I agree with you on temperature and simulating the dry season.

 

[b considine]

Warmer temps and drop in water level simulates the dry season. The cooler water combined with the big water change simulates the rainy season.

Not sure how warm to go, as pygmy corys are a warm water species to begin with...

Blaise