The Puffer Forum

My corys bred again a few weeks ago, and I was lucky enough to walk by the tank to see the eggs. Five hatched and have survived and are living in a breeding mesh. The problem is that one of them is less than a quarter of an inch long while the others are way over half an inch long. They dwarf her. She doesn't look any bigger than she did at one week of age, while the others are growing and thriving.

I was wondering if this happens with anyone who breeds corys and if there is something that can be done about it. I have watched many of my fish grow at different rates, but I have never seen one just quit developing, period. I'm feeding a variety of foods, such as frozen algae gut-loaded brine shrimp, mashed frozen blood worms, crushed flake food, mashed Hikari bottom feeder pellets, and so on. So, the little one is getting food. The water quality is as good as it always is, which is good; the filtering is great and there are tons of live plants, and so on.

If you know of anything that I can do to help this little sweetie grow, such as finding another food, please let me know. If you have had experience with corys and have seen runts who don't grow, I'd like to know, too. I just need a little information!

Thanks so much.

I've never bred Cory's, so I can't answer your query directly, but it's been my understanding that there's usually a "runt" in every group of births. I think that's just the way of nature. I doubt your little one would survive in his natural environment, but that's just how it is. You may be able to keep him alive, but he might never develop as the others are.