Make them
stop!
By Jeff Michels
MAS
Make them stop...I e-mailed to Kevin Korotev after a non-stop week
of my Cory. sterbai spawning. I
found the on switch, but where did they hide the stop button? Kevin
thought it might just be a cycle the cats go through, to spawn heavy but
not regularly. But
the cats seemed to disagree with that idea just a little.
After this first spawning bonanza the sterbai decided to go it all
over again a few weeks later. The
first spawning to place during a rainy week, but the second seemed to be
non-storm related.
Finally, a third group orgy ensued, lasting only two days. A
feeding of live black worms triggered this most recent act of
procreation. The
live food had been absent from the Cory’s diet for 12 days while I was on
vacation. While
I was gone the fish were fed Tetra color bits. It
took only one feeding of the worms to produce spawning the very next
day.
All of the large spawning and the occasional smaller ones ended up
with eggs being deposited on the cleaned pane of glass at one end or in
the yarn mop. Only a
few eggs were laid in other areas.
Spawning took place through out the day. During
the hot and heavy times I could watch the fish lay eggs, it seemed, at any
time I chose.
With all the spawns I treated the eggs in the same
manner.
I would pick the 1.5mm eggs out of the mop and off the glass with
my fingers and place them in a plastic dish with about 2” of water from
the spawning tank. Then
an airstone would be placed in the cup to create mild surface
agitation. After
about 4 or 5 days the eggs hatched and little “tadpoles” would be swimming
about.
When all the eggs in the cup were hatched out I would move the fry
into a 2 1/2gal tank with about 4” of water and a sponge filter. The
fry were fed fresh baby brine shrimp for several weeks with water changes
twice a week. With
each water change I would raise the water level of the tank by about
½”.
I’ve found the lowered water level helps the fry get to the surface
easier when they go to breath air. If the
water is to deep the babies don’t reach the surface and the mortality rate
is much higher. After
the babies are about ¼” and have distinct spots I move them to a 5gal tank
that is full of water to grow some more.