Mystery in My Tank

[pufferpuggirl]

I cannot figure out a mystery that's been going on in one of my tanks. This is my mostly puffer tank which has some irrubesco redtail puffers and some dwarf puffers in it, as well as a couple of BB gobies, 2 other kinds of gobies, a couple of corydoras', one male guppy (that thinks he's a BB goby) and a formerly legless red crab. There aren't any snails in this tank.
The mystery is this -- I've got eggs stuck on the glass on 3 sides of my tank. The eggs look alot like nerite snail eggs, the way they lay them up on the glass, but as I mentioned, there aren't any snails of any kind in this tank. So I am unsure where these eggs are coming from. They keep appearing. I had a huge batch a few weeks ago, and by the next morning they were all gone.
The eggs that are on the glass right now were not there earlier when I was vacuuming the tank .... and yet, I never see the culprit in the act of laying these eggs! I would love to know what and who it is that's doing it.
Just for the sake of argument, if these eggs were dwarf puffer eggs, they would not be sticking to the glass, would they? I have seen two of my dwarf puffers doing what I think is pre-mating nudging, but I don't think they would lay eggs in a tank with other fish ... would they? And even if they did, we're back to the eggs being stuck onto the glass, which I didn't think was puffer style.

Any ideas anyone?

[lilacamy931]

Any pics of the eggs? I would be inclined to say the cories. I cant find the pic of my cory eggs, are they small spherical quite clear beigey? Cories tend to lay on glass, if you wanted a hand at raising them, they can be rolled off the glass into a separate container/tank

p.s. what cories are they as can probably suggest if likely to breed (having bred 5 species myself, never had much luck raising except one species)
Here is a pic of freshly laid bronze cory eggs though they differ

[pufferpuggirl]

You know Amy, I think that's it!! And before I came and seen your response, I was looking because I seen more eggs and there was a Cory sort of "standing up", tail fin on the substrate and body against the glass, and I was wondering if she was the culprit. So yes, I think that's it. The Cory's I have in there are "Peppered" I think. I've had them ages, surprised they are still laying eggs. But yes, I do think that's who the egg-layer is.
Thank you for confirming that for me.

[Troender]

My guess would also be the cories. If it's c. aeneus, they tend to like to put their eggs on the glass. Where the cories like to put their eggs, differs from species to species, and sometimes also from group to group. Both the cories (but this also differs from species to species) and all the other tank inhabitants could eat the eggs after they've been layed.

[lilacamy931]

Oh peppers are super good at egg laying, congrats cory mum! Going by my bronzes they hatched within 2 days (though it can vary as Troender has said, average 4 days sometimes up to 10 depending species and heat in tank). If want to give ago, suggest large container with aerator going. Congrats again (though pufflets and all of the above might find them farrr to tasty). The female cories tend to be broader and chubbier from above x

[pufferpuggirl]

Well it's good to know who the egg-layer is now, but I doubt I will be seeing any baby Cories because someone is going around and eating the eggs almost as quickly as they're laid. I thought I seen one of my dwarf puffers hovering near to the eggs and pecking them off. In fact, as I turn around and have a look, I don't see but a few whereas there were loads earlier. I've been seeing these eggs every month or so .... and it's been a mystery until tonight. They looked so much like those nerite snail eggs, yet I knew there wasn't any snails in that tank. I'd love to actually see the Cory laying the eggs .... but I never have caught her yet. Too bad they won't get a chance to hatch out, but I suppose even if they got far enough to hatch the babies would be eaten by one of the several inhabitants of that tank. Forgot to mention there's also a Bristlenose plec in there too.
But at least the mystery is solved.
I've had those Cories about 3 years now, they've been in a few different tanks, poor things, I keep moving them around. I had them in a tank with a stony substrate and felt sorry for them, so then I moved them to a tank with a sandy substrate and I think they like it better. I always try to give my fish the best place possible for their needs.
It's like I bought a Fire eel and I was surprised to see how many people keep them in tanks with gravel and rocks when really they need a softer environment. Mine is in a tank with a sandy substrate (most of my tanks have sand on the bottom, just about 3 out of 18 tanks have gravel and/or rocks on the bottom).