How Many times do Cory Catfish lay eggs?

When it comes it catfishes, Cory Catfishes are an ideal choice to have in an aquarium.

There are over 150 species of this fish. Each one comes with its specific behavior, features, and breeding selections.

The different colors that they come in are unique and vibrant. These bottom dwellers breed frequently. 

In this article, we will take you through a journey regarding the breeding of the Cory catfish.

How often do Cory Catfish lay eggs? 

If you have a Cory Catfish, it may deposit eggs once a week, and these species of fish will breed regularly if the right conditions are available. If all the parameters of the aquarium are within their sweet spot, you can expect eggs quite often. 

How many eggs do Cory Catfish produce? 

Each of your Catfish should be able to produce 10 to 20 eggs at a time. The number of offspring depends upon different aspects such as the quality of their diet, tank size, water parameters, the health of the fish, the population of the tank, and tank setup. 

The female Cory Catfish will attach their eggs to a plant, the wall of the aquarium, or the decorations.

How to know of the eggs of Cory Catfish are fertilized? 

Cory eggs that are fertilized are beige with black markings. The black markings appear as the eggs move towards hatching. Infertile eggs, on the other hand, are white, simple, and transparent.

A simple observation can help you decide which eggs to save. You can remove the infertile eggs as they can develop fungus. 

It’s important to remember that viable eggs don’t always result in healthy fry.

As a result, deciding whether viable eggs are worth retaining based on a visual assessment can be challenging.

Even if both breeding fish were healthy, there’s a potential your pet Catfish produced poor fry. You’ll have to wait till the eggs hatch to find out which Corydora offspring are the strongest. 

How long does it for Cory Catfish eggs to hatch? 

The amount of time the Cory Catfish eggs take to hatch is about 3 to 6 days.

If some of the eggs don’t hatch it means that they were not fertilized. You can remove the unfertilized eggs.

How Do You Know If Your Cory Catfish Is Pregnant?

It is easy to notice whether your Cory Catfish is pregnant. Mature Cory Catfish females swell up with eggs. As a result, if you discover your Cory Catfish have grown enlarged, they are most likely pregnant.

However, because Cory Catfish have a high proclivity for having children, you should keep an eye out until the swelling has subsided.

Once their swelling goes down, look for the eggs in the walls of the aquarium, or the plants, or the decors. 

Breeding Cory Catfish in an aquarium 

Breeding Cory Catfish after they reach the length of about 2 to 3 inches is ideal. There is nothing complicated regarding the breeding of this species. 

• To breed Cory Catfish you should set up a separate breeding tank. The tank should be of about 20 gallons, no less than that.
• The tank must be tall. There is no requirement for a substrate, but if you want to add substrate go for a sandy one.
• Add plants and rocks, as these fishes attach eggs to such surfaces. Add an air stone and air pump for the water flow. For a filter, you can use a sponge filter.
• Don’t use hang-on-back filters as the fry can get sucked by them. Get all the parameters to the required levels and maintain them. That’s all you need while setting up a breeding tank for Cory Catfishes.
• The breeding group can then be moved from the main tank to the new one, where they will be encouraged to reproduce.
• You should return the parents to the main tank once the fry has hatched, just in case they do not consume their kids, which can happen. 

You can also let the pair of the Cory Catfish breed in the main tank.

After the female has laid eggs and the eggs are fertilized you can move the eggs to a separate tank made for the fish fry.

Remove the eggs that have not been fertilized.

If the female has attached the eggs to the wall you can use your fingers to carefully move the eggs to the separate tank. If the female has attached the eggs to plants or decors, you can move the plant or the décor to a separate tank.

You can go for either of the methods. It depends upon your liking. 

To encourage the Cory Catfish to breed, you can perform water changes of about 30%.

Keep the temperature of the water that you add a little bit lower than the preferred range.

How to take care of the newly hatched fry of Cory Catfish?

Now that the eggs have hatched and the newborns are here to live their life, you must take care of them. Move the parents back to the main tank.

The most crucial part is feeding them. As they are newborns, you will have to give them small-sized food.

• You can feed them baby brine shrimps. Remember, brine shrimps have to be newly hatched.
• After a week or so, after they have gained a little size you can feed them flake foods by crushing them first and live brine shrimp. 
• Remember to keep the water clean and not let the parameters fluctuate.
• Use a cup to remove some water from the fry tank, and add water from your main tank to the fry tank.
• After 4 weeks, you can begin feeding them regular tank foods and add a filter on their tanks, such as hang-on back or canister filters.
• They won’t face any danger from the filters once they’ve grown. 

How to differentiate between male and a female Cory Catfish? 

If you wish to breed your Cory Catfish, it is a given that you need a male and a female pair for it.

To get mixed-sex fish you can buy several of them at once. It is hard to differentiate between a male and a female Cory Catfish when they are young. They should be about the size of 2 inches to tell the difference. 

In the case of Cory Catfish, the males are smaller than the females. The males have slender body and vibrant colors.

The females are larger than the males and have thick midsections. The females also tend to swim higher than the males and the males like to spend their time at the bottom areas of the tank.

Cory Catfishes can lay eggs and breed frequently. Although, there is no guarantee that all the eggs will hatch. Breeding them is also not that difficult. Setup a separate tank for them, and they will breed without problems. You can also breed them in the main tank and move the eggs to a separate tank. Although, remember when buying Cory Catfishes, buy a group of them to get a mixture of males and females.