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Hello everyone! I finally got my tanks moved back into the basement and I did a little rearranging of my fish. I ended up putting my 6 cories and my first ever baby (he's about 1" now!) into a ten gallon by themselves. While I was transferring them, I found two more tiny babies. Within 48 hours they layed more eggs. I now have an over abundance of peppered cory eggs! I lost count around 145. What should I do with so many eggs?

One person I talked with suggested I destroy some, but I don't want to do that, it would be murder. I know my little ten gallon won't be able to handle all of them once they get bigger. I do have a twenty and another ten that I planned on moving the three babies into one of them, but I don't know how big they should be before I could move them.

So here are my questions...

How big should the babies get before I can move them?

Do I really need to get special food for the fry? My other babies survived without any special diets.

Should I try to move the eggs into one of the other tanks?


Any other information would be helpful. Thanks!

Do you plan to give the fry special attention to ensure their survival, or will you just treat them like adult fish and see whether they make it or not? What you should do with the eggs depends on if you really want to keep and raise them. If you're not willing to go out of your way to provide for the eggs, then just leave them as they are and see how they do on their own.
If you'd like to keep the fry, then consider that it is easier to move them while they're still eggs than when they are highly-mobile catfish. You can scrape the eggs off of the glass with a credit card or something similar and place them in a ready container, then take it out of the tank and move it wherever you want the eggs. An antifungal treatment (Methylene Blue is the most commonly used for this purpose) will help ward off a fungal attack, and an airstone placed near the eggs will create current and keep them oxygenated. Once everything has been situated, you're done for a while. The eggs should hatch about two or three days after they were laid.

The three fry can be moved once they're large enough to not be eaten by whatever lives in your other tanks.

Last edited by sirbooks at 21-Sep-2005 18:39

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I'm kind of torn on this. I want them all to survive, but I don't think that I have the space for them. I was thinking about getting another fish or two for my twenty, but if I move the babies into there once they get bigger I won't have room to get any more fish. I know I can put at least three into my other ten, I've only got five tetras in that one.

What would you suggest?

If you don't have the space, then don't give the eggs or fry any special treatment. If they survive and grow, great, but if they don't, it won't be a huge deal. Your Corydoras paleatus will probably lay eggs again, and when that happens you may be in a position to hatch them and raise the babies.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

If you don't have space, just leave them where they are, but give them some attention, especially when feeding, so the Corydoras that survive, will get some food & grow healthy.


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I decided to let nature take its course. I have not done anything special, and I am now down to about fifty eggs. I think they should hatch in the next few days. I can't wait to see how many babies I will end up with! I will let you all know when they are born!

Thanks for your advise!