Author Topic: Todays activity in my tank (Read 2975 times)

brush439 · « **on:** January 30, 2018, 12:33:04 AM »

came home from work today to find that my Bronze Corys had been rather busy spawning again.
I run a 80 litre tank containing one weather loach (ten years old) approx. 8 inches long, 8 bronze corys six rainbow snails and about fifteen (most I've ever counted) Canadian river shrimps that were originally bought as live food for the loach (he ate the first lot but turned his nose up at the second lot so they became residents). I've transferred about 200 eggs to my spare 8 litre tank, the rest are now being devoured by the shrimps.

i'll try to update when I can

Sue · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2018, 09:09:56 AM »

They have been busy

Matt · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2018, 06:34:45 PM »

Congratulations!

Keep the updates and photos coming

brush439 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 01, 2018, 08:38:43 PM »

and now the second female has spawned, not as many eggs but it is her first season. will remove the eggs in the morning to the tank with the others.
they should be hatching in a day or two

Littlefish · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2018, 06:08:49 PM »

That is a lot of eggs.

Congratulations.

brush439 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2018, 09:21:22 PM »

can't add any photos but a light shone against the side of the baby tank reveals at least several hundred if not a thousand baby corys.
when they get big enough to photo i'll post on here , they are approx. 1mm long at the moment

fcmf · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2018, 09:41:13 PM »

Wow

Littlefish · « **Reply #7 on:** February 11, 2018, 09:58:04 AM »

I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures.

brush439 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 11, 2018, 07:43:53 PM »

ok guys and ladies, any recommendations on feeding?
previously I've used a few drops of Interpet liquifry No2 although I've never had the amount of fry I have now
I know the eggs that didn't hatch will become food as well as fry that die

at what stage should I start to introduce catfish pellets
i'm moving apartments in two weeks as well which will shake things up a touch as
well

Sue · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2018, 08:26:43 PM »

The best food for fry is infusoria. Google will tell you how to cultivate that. Microwroms are also useful as a next stage food - you can buy starter cultures from places like Ebay, and you'll also need a couple of plastic tubs, some instant porridge and a sachet of yeast.
Once they fry are big enough you can feed pulverised pellets - not the kind of catfish pellets that have a high veg/algae content as cories are not vegetarians, but a sinking pellet with a high meat/fish content. A small pestle and mortar is ideal for pulverising fish food to dust

brush439 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 06, 2018, 10:51:08 AM »

moving house is not always a good idea with some fish. the 80 litre tank had to be drained down to around 30 litres to be moved safely. the resulting water add over two days after set the girls off again - anyone want some cory eggs?

got a video of one of them laying her eggs but it's 29MB in size - anyone know how I can post such an item on here?

Sue · « **Reply #11 on:** March 06, 2018, 04:23:55 PM »

I think with videos they have to be uploaded to a video hosting site then the link copied and pasted into a post.

https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/welcome-to-our-tropical-fish-forum-please-read/creating-posts-posting-images-and-youtube-videos/new/#new

brush439 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 21, 2018, 12:16:51 AM »

any body have any advice reference midges?

my main tank has gained a colony

Littlefish · « **Reply #13 on:** March 21, 2018, 09:25:16 AM »

I've not had this problem in my tanks, but I've had a quick look around for some suggestions which don't involve adding chemicals, which is something that I would avoid, especially as you have shrimp & snails in your tank.
The main suggestions seem to be a lot of tank cleaning, water changes, and increasing surface water movement to stop the midges from laying eggs. Some information suggests that eggs are laid like little blobs of jelly on the tank glass at the surface, so that all needs to be wiped off.
How bad is the infestation? can you use some sticky strips near the tank to catch adults and reduce numbers, while the cleaning helps with eggs and larvae?
Keep testing your water, as sometimes a big clean will disturb the tank and cause an ammonia spike, although larger water changes after cleaning should help with this.
Some of the others may have more targeted advice, so please keep us updated on this situation.

brush439 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 22, 2018, 12:56:51 AM »

Littlefish
thanks for the advice, however I'm trying to steer clear of major water changes and tank cleaning at the moment, I'll explain why
water changes affect the temperature of the tank (I'm not heated and run at room temp 19-22c) if the temp drops significantly then I get three females coming into season (they think it's the monsoon). so far this year I've had about 12-1500 eggs laid. no more spare tanks for the fry and local fish dealer won't take anymore. also I possibly have fry in the tank which live on the sides till they are about 12 weeks old (then go to the bottom) if I clean the sides below the water level I risk killing a large number of them. this is why I bought more zebra snails to keep down the algae

fcmf · « **Reply #15 on:** March 22, 2018, 08:08:24 AM »

The increased water surface movement suggested by LF is an alternative and good suggestion that perhaps you could try, though. Although my experience in them is not through fishkeeping (touchwood), midges are notorious for being in areas with little breeze and it's amazing the effect a little bit of breeze can have, so this suggestion of LF's might serve this purpose.

Littlefish · « **Reply #16 on:** March 22, 2018, 09:23:13 AM »

@brush439 I see your problem with water changes. I have a few temperate tanks and have had similar responses to cold water changes.

As I haven;t had a problem with these pests in my tank I had a look and found this information:-
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/biology-and-control-of-non-biting-aquatic-midges

For the time being I would suggest that you try the sticky strips to catch flying adults.
Look for the jelly lumps that are the egg masses, and remove them from the surface area of your tank. Hopefully these will be close enough to the surface to avoid disturbing your fry in the tank.
Increase the surface water movement, which I'm guessing makes it difficult for the adults to lay eggs.

This sort of low impact approach will probably take a lot longer to help your situation, but will leave the rest of your tank undisturbed.

The information indicated that the midges are attracted to water with a lot of nutrients. What are your current water parameters?
If you are prepared to try some water changes you could try removing water from the middle of the tank, to avoid disturbing the fry on the sides. You could try using a jug if you don't want to use a syphon. Or perhaps use something over the syphon (ladies tights perhaps, or similar) to avoid sucking up fish fry.
Bring the new water to the right temperature before adding it to the tank - you can use tap water if you have a combi-boiler, or water from the kettle.
@fcmf has mentioned the possible impact of air movement, so perhaps if you run a fan near the tank the air flow will blow the midges away from the tank and stop them from being able to lay eggs.
It may be a case of low impact controls and constant monitoring for the time being.
Best of luck and please keep us updated.

brush439 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 27, 2018, 04:56:32 PM »

Not the greatest picture but have about 35-40 youngsters in the tank, actually had my first loss this morning which is the first time I've actually had such a high survival rate

fcmf · « **Reply #18 on:** May 27, 2018, 06:00:31 PM »

Well done on the youngsters.

When you say you had a loss, did you see one/several being consumed, or have you actually counted them and noticed one/some were missing?

brush439 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 27, 2018, 08:39:05 PM »

found one floating at the top, I've made several attempts to count them but they just don't stay still lonh enough

Littlefish · « **Reply #20 on:** May 28, 2018, 09:35:44 AM »

Great to see your gang of little ones

brush439 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2018, 12:05:44 AM »

ok to give you an update, the fish in the thread pictures are now ready to go to the fish shop (about 35). farmed a few out in 3s and 4s to friends also.
about a month ago there was another spawning which are living in the smallest tank I have. they are loving it as the hot weather has upped the algae levels so they are in the dark but very active.
then..... on Thursday the adults spawned again!!!!!!
with no tank available for the eggs they were collected and kept in a 10 litre tub. unfortunately I have no pumps or air bits available and they all died today (it was 31 degrees here which prob didn't help their cause)

so a bit of a sad day really

Littlefish · « **Reply #22 on:** July 16, 2018, 08:52:35 AM »

Wow, your gang are determined to keep reproducing.

Todays Activity In My Tank

Todays Activity In My Tank

Author Topic: Todays activity in my tank (Read 2975 times)

Become a ThinkFish Super Subscriber