How to Care for Baby Cory Catfish After They Hatch

The common term "corys" can refer to a number of catfish species kept in home aquariums. These fish from the Corydoras genus all have similar features, dietary needs and care needs. Whether you have found yourself with bronze corydoras eggs, banded corydoras eggs or delphax corydoras eggs, raising those just hatched fry will take basically the same steps. Corys are not the easiest fish to breed. But if you have gotten your eggs to hatch, then you have already passed the most challenging step.

Things You'll Need

  • Plants
  • Caves
  • Filter or pump
  • Baby fish food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Add lots of plants, rocks and other places for the fry to hide if you have kept the eggs and fry in the same tank as the parents or other fish. The parents and larger fish will eat the fry they can find. Providing hiding places will give some of the fry a chance to grow into adulthood.

    • 2

      Maintain the water temperature and quality at optimal levels as you would for the adult fish of the species of cory that you have bred. This will vary by species. For example, delphax corys need a temperature of 70 to 79 degrees F, while bronze corys can tolerate temperature in the range of 64 to 79 degrees F. The book "500 Freshwater Aquarium Fish" lists all of the cory species and their water requirements for reference.

    • 3

      Aerate the water slightly with a gentle aeration pump. If the tank housing the fry has a filter, then this will work as the aeration. For fry, you don't want the water to be too fast-moving, but do need some fresh oxygen cycling through the tank.

    • 4

      Feed liquid baby fish food for at least four to five days. According to Joseph S. Levine in "The Complete Fishkeeper," fish that hatch from eggs are too small to eat regular fish food. You need to start your cory fry on the smallest food possible.

    • 5

      Feed microworms and other larger baby fish foods along with the liquid fish food for several weeks. You will need to watch what the babies eat and their size to determine when they can transition to larger baby fish food and then to adult food. This will vary by species and individual fry and takes some trial and error to learn when to add adult foods.