FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I'm very overstocked.

The problem is largely due to cories. The school varies from between 30 to 50. I am fortunate to have a LFS that operates more or less a fish exchange, so I have been able to "sell" them there over the years. It's not easy for me to get there, though, and the school is breeding faster than I can re-home them. (I don't trade in juveniles, or heavily gravid females, so I have to catch them at just the right time.) If I could get the survival rate of the eggs/fry down, then I could keep up. I get four or five survivors per laying right now.

Particulars: 55 gallons, no live plants at the moment. 2 kissing gouramis, 2 skunk botias, 5 lemon and 5 neon tetras. 1 elderly rasbora. many snails. PH slightly above 7. Ammonia is zero, or undectable with the kit I have. 2 filters - Penguin 330 and Penguin 200.

My local fish guru was a bit surprised that the cories aren't eating their own eggs. His next suggestion was botias, but I have enough snails to keep them away from the baby fishes. He suggested that the cories are spiny even as fry, and most fish simply don't want to trouble with them. He suggested I ask the wider fish community.

Any ideas?

My suggestion is a grow out tank.


Yep, battle too many fish in one tank by getting another tank .

You'd be able to monitor the health of the babies a little better, and be able to grab them easier at just the right time for trading into your LFS. If your fish are breeding they're healthy and that's a good thing, I'd do nothing to discourage that.

Look for long or breeding tanks, they're usually the same gallonage as a standard 20, but longer allowing more surface area.

30 to 50 cories must be real amusing to see in one tank


^_^

I'd also be surprised if the parents weren't necessarily eating their eggs, but I guess you have enough cover for the young to get away. A small catfish like a South American Bumblebee catfish might be what you want here to chomp up those extra young, although you may never see any fry again. You don't want a catfish that is too big or it'll take out your neons and rasbora.

I'm jealous, I've had no luck with corys.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.