# Killies Import > Non-Killie Segment >  eggs? fungus?

## strung_0ut

Hey everybody,

Can anyone confirm what these are? They look like eggs to me, but they're all different sizes. I have cories (smaller breed), 6 cherry shrimps, 4? 5? 6? japonica, and guppies in this tank.







I am very unfamilar to this. I tried to zoom in closer but I'm not good with cameras and can never focus clearly when I zoom in.

Regards, 

Dennis

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## whuntley

Dennis,

Look a lot like Cory eggs, to me. Surprising, because mine have usually chosen the glass or a slick leaf for depositing their very sticky eggs.

Try to handle one. If it is very sticky, I'd bet it is a Cory egg.

Wright

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## stormhawk

I would agree with Wright. If you're keeping dwarf corys they will spawn quite easily, especially Corydoras pygmaeus. Doing a water change with cooler water may trigger them to spawn. 

On the other hand, if you have those fancy freshwater snails like those zebra snails aka _Nerita spp_., then most probably those are the snail's eggs. These snails usually lay their oval-shaped eggs on driftwood and rock surfaces.

If you don't have any of these snails in the tank, then these are eggs from the corys. :wink:

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## strung_0ut

Thanks Wright and Jianyang,

Awesome, cool, I absolutely adore these guys  :Very Happy: (9 in total). I haven't any snails in my tank, maybe one here or there, no real population though, and definately no zebras. This is exciting to me and I'm very happy. Here are my guys,



I've got a few questions,

How can I handle them, they're so tiny, smaller than my coral sand base?

How can I go about hatching these eggs?

Will anything in my tank do harm? shrimps, guppies, otos?

If I'm successful enough, what can I feed the fry's?

My water is always cool, how often do they spawn, and how many eggs produce?

Any sensitivities in the fry to elements in the water? such as chlorine?

I'm sure there is plenty more but right off the bat. I would really like to raise them, and appreciate all help, thanks,

Dennis

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## whuntley

The pic looks like _Corydoras habrosus_. They are a delightful species, to be treasured.

I was with Stan Weitzman when he collected the type specimens of this species. Not in the Amazon R., but as a contaminant with some _C. hastatus_ in the Nippon Goldfish store in Palo Alto, CA.  :Very Happy: 

The other critters will eat the eggs or babies. Any trace of chlorine or ammonia will probably kill or stunt them. [The species is already tiny enough!]

Catfish eggs often look bad to killy keepers, as they are often normally cloudy white or cream colored. Don't let that worry you.

I remove catfish eggs from the glass with an upturned razor blade. I then move them to the wall of a plastic shoebox wall for gestation and hatching. The shoebox has an airstone and some Java Moss to provide infusoria starter, but the babies will probably take finely-powdered dry food if it will sink. Do feed bbs as soon as they can take them.

Lifting eggs off rocks and wood may require a pretty deft touch. IDK.

Good luck,

Wright

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## stormhawk

Alternatively, use your fingers to roll them off the surfaces. The eggs are quite sticky and will adhere to your finger. Do it gently though. I did that the last time I had a spawning of the pygmaeus. Transferred the eggs by hand to the nursery tank. The habrosus has eluded breeding efforts by locals here so I should applaud you for having succeeded in getting these fellas to spawn. =D> 

They're very lovable fish, especially the dwarf species. To raise the fry they require microworms as first foods before moving on to larger foods like BBS and crushed pellets like Tetrabits, which my friend has used to good effect in feeding young C. hastatus. Eggs should hatch within 2-3 days with mild aeration and some Java moss in the hatching tray. Don't worry about the detritus that accumulates. The fry usually find some snacks in there somewhere. Once they can start eating grindals or chopped tubifex, they will grow quite quickly. Do regular water changes with aged water and ensure that uneaten food gets removed after they've gotten their fill.

The adults will spawn on a frequent basis once they have started spawning. Changing the outlook of the tank or putting them through a major shock may disrupt or even stop the breeding indefinitely. Heavy feedings with a mix of live foods and dried foods will bring them into spawning condition very quickly. A water change with water that is slightly cooler in temperature than that of the tank can trigger them into spawning.

Oh yes, if they do hatch, document the changes in body form and pattern. Its very special to see them grow up and with each step their fins start to form and the body markings are different.

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## stormhawk

Wright, do the people in the US get a selection of Corydoras species as good as the Japanese or the Taiwanese? I've seen many oddball corys in Japanese magazines but many don't make it to Singapore's LFSes.  :Sad: 

Weitzman described this species from aquarium specimens? Now that's another nugget of Cory history that I don't get all the time. Thanks Wright. :wink:

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## strung_0ut

I am going to set up a nursery tank, 10 gallong, with airstone, and some java moss. Will this be okay? 2- 3 days for hatch? How should I go about the temperature?

My biggest concern is removing the eggs, they're really small and seem very delicate, finger method sounds good though. Thanks so much,

Dennis

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## whuntley

It all depends on what species, Jian Yang.

I have been looking for years for a good breeding group of _hastatus_ but have not seen real ones here for 25 years or more. Some showed up in SF a while back but I was too far away to get there in time. 

If ordered from the FL fish farms, you invariably get _pygmaeus_ instead. Those are a very nice fish, too, but they are not quite the same in either behaviour or appearance. The commercial sources here don't seem to know the difference (or is it care?).

Lately, I have not seen _habrosus_ offered, either.

My impression from glancing at aquabid once in a while is that we are getting a bit more species than historically. A few years back "Pandas" were essentially impossible, but I do see them now. I don't really watch as much since I no longer actively breed Cories.

Some day I'll score some _hastatus_ or _habrosus_ and that may get me back into it.

My problem is a liking for wild types. Neither species is colorful or distorted in shape, so the public dislikes them, just as they scarf up Pigeon-Blood and Turquoise Discus and hate the wild-type blues or Heckels. I'd love to breed Angels again or Discus, but no one wants the plain wild silver angel or wild-color discus. I won't breed the common mutants, even albinos. To me they are too unnatural. That's just me. The customers are always right. They make the hobby.

Wright

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## stormhawk

Dennis, the nursery tank need not be that big. A small plastic tub or glass tank will do. Sponge filters will be great for filtration purposes and some springs of Java Moss. The eggs should hatch within 2-3 days at temperatures around 26 to 28degC.

If you feel uneasy about rolling the eggs off with a knife or your fingers, remove the wood where the eggs are attached and ensure that the eggs do not get exposed to the atmosphere. You can do this by placing the wood in a container while still in the tank and making sure the eggs are constantly immersed in water.

To reduce fungus attacks I've used methylene blue to good effect. If you don't wish to use such chemicals, remove the fungused eggs manually using a pipette or turkey baster without breaking the eggs and spilling the contents in mid-water. Do this carefully and observe the eggs for development. If you placed the eggs close to the walls of the tank or a container, you can observe the embryonic development with a torchlight and a magnifying glass.

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## stormhawk

Wright, I've seen habrosus and hastatus for sale locally in SG. They're quite common and I've got friends who are breeding the hastatus quite successfully. The habrosus have been quite unwilling to spawn for most of us yet. Ronnie has some FAT habrosus that have yet to spawn. I'm not sure why but at those sizes they should have spawned by now.

If you can't find any of them fellas in the States, tell me and I'll see what I can do. :wink: 

I think Eric Bodrock of All Oddball Aquatics has some nice corys as I've seen on his site. Maybe you could contact him for species availability? 

I've just gotten hold of a griseus and some other less common corys. Of late there's been several imports of wild-caught corys and farm-breds. The choices are amazing but nowhere near what the Japanese get to see at any one time. My all-time favourite has been the atropersonatus and I've got 7 of these fellas swimming in my main tank. Always a wonderful addition to any tank. :wink:

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## Slaigar

The Cory selection is not too bad where I am. Though I have yet to see a C. sterbai or adolfi. Once every while a different species pops up. It is more available in a nearby city. I have not gone out of town for awhile, but on a few visits I have seen C. rabauti, C. delphax, C. pygmaeus and a few different variations of C. aeneus "stripe" or "lazer" colours.

Below Water, Canadian distributor that ships mostly to the US, gets a few different cories once everywhile. They had (or have) fowleri and barbatus.

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## strung_0ut

Guys, I don't think those were cory eggs, reason being that MY CORIES HAVE GONE MAD. Yesterday, being sunday, they went crazy. They were all over the place. They seemed to be in groups of three each, 1 robust female followed by two males. What I did not get was the female would pin a male down, and then seemingly have an egg in her fin and then go lay it. Prior days to this, these guys seemed extra nice to each other, they were in like a courtship, I can describe it has they were like dancing together. Anyways, the pictures of the eggs on the wood, were red and of all different sizes, these eggs were all the same size and a white milky transparent color. I'm happy to have witnessed all this, I took about 200 photos, most of them came out all blurred, but I came up with some pretty good ones. I knew this being yesterday and saw about 27 eggs, that I visibly saw and knew of the whereabouts, but they laid a lot more that I cannot find. I removed about 20 of the 27, some fell off my finger and rolled into the gravel. Yesterday I saw two on the walls and a few on the leaves above side and under side. Today they were at it again too, I saw 5 on the walls, and the females laying more, I've been busy with school so I haven't counted them yet. 

One of my females looks pretty pale, is this a bad sign?

I am overwhelmed with eggs, and there are so many I cannot move, are these able to hatch in the tank?

Well here are the pictures, thanks for listening/reading  :Very Happy:  











There are plenty more in my album.

Regards,

Dennis

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## stormhawk

Congratulations Dennis! You caught them in the T-position, which occurs when the female nudges the side of the male. When this happens the male releases sperms and the female sucks it in and releases it via her gill covers. At the same moment the male releases his sperms, the female extrudes a single egg into the pelvic fin pouch. By gill movement the female allows the sperm to pass the egg and fertilise it at the same time.

The eggs will hatch at the same time but whether the fry will survive is another thing. Remove what you can and transfer the eggs to a nursery tank. The female that looks pale should have been exhausted of eggs. No cause for worry there but if the others are still going crazy, you're in for a bumper crop of little habrosus. :wink:

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## strung_0ut

Just a follow-up

Sigh,

I removed probably about 20 eggs, I think maybe 8 of them hatched, but sadly they all died. I got a little too eager on the feedings. The eggs in the tank hatched, I don't know if they survived or not, I never see any, its a big tank but there are big predators. I did manage to save a fry, after reading in killie intro raising about Mr. Loh's neglect, I have it in a tray with a few fronds of erect moss, no aeration, and also I am scared in feeding it..The fry has been alive for two weeks now, hopefully I can add another cory to the community, and lesson well learned. Is it possible to overfeed with liquid fry foods?

-Dennis

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