Cory Breeding Tips?

[CatWhat]

I am currently in attempts to breed my Sterbai Cories. I have bred Bronze Cories in the past with nit much trouble but these Sterbai's are certainly giving me a challenge. Currently I am feeding them bloodworms and flakes several times a day and doing frequent water changes to compensate for the over feeding. When replacing the water I try to add some what cooler water as I did with the bronze but still no action.
So I am wondering if anyone has any additional tips to get these guys breeding. Thanks for the help.

Oh there are 12 in a 20G long species only tank.

[Jayba]

Hmm. I personally have no experience with them.

But a floating mop and a sinking mop may help.

To trigger plecos I crank the heat, lower the water level to half to a third of what it usually is and add water hardener and ignore them for a while. This fools them to think they are getting soft water when I add tap water.

Then hit them with a big water change back to full volume with cool water and tons of food . I do this the same day a big low pressure system rolls in. Once you get them started it's fry-ville.

Look into their natural habitat, mimic those conditions and they will breed.

Good luck!

[SuperGuppyGirl]

What is the temperature of the tank normally before your water change?

[Jayba]

Found this little gem too....

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=85

[CatWhat]

Thanks for the info. Perhaps I am not using cold enough water after water changes. Sounds like it needs to be pretty cold if snow was used. The tank temp is usually around 79-81F.

[SuperGuppyGirl]

Mine spawned in my community tank, without any RO or massive temperature drops. pH 7.2, temp 77-78F, fed hikari 8veggies/spirulina/ mysis shrimp/NLS 0.5 mm small fish formula. Weekly WC 30% a few degrees cooler, tons of java moss, sand substrate. Have about 30-40 juvie from last spawn.

[CatWhat]

Here is a video of the stubborn little guys.

[jvision]

That post that Jayba put up was back when the only sterbai you could get were wild caught. In your group, I see males and females, and they look to be about the size that breeding could start. Feed them lots, and get the temp up to 82F or so. If you want to really time it, once your females are good and plump, wait for a thunderstorm and do a 50%WC dropping the temp by 10F or so. If your fish are not wild, that should be plenty to get them going. If they are from the wild, you may need to use RO/rain water for that WC.

[CatWhat]

I am not sure if they are wild caught or not, but if I were to bet I would say they were domestic. But I will ask the LFS I bought them from just to be sure. Right now the temp is around 83F and they are getting a water change tomorrow. So I could try adding cooler water now that the tank temp has been up for the last few days.

[jvision]

I'd wait a week on that cold WC. Some females are plump, but they could be moreso. Fed heavily with fatty (worms) and protein-rich foods for a week. Then, next week do a big cool WC - I'd recommend doing it on a day where you'll be around to collect eggs, as most Cory's will happily eat their own eggs.