# Panda corys



## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Say hello to my new additions! 

I wanted to get 6, but the shop only had 4 in stock, so I'll be looking to add another 2 at a later date.


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

Hello little pandas! 

They do look nice on your new substrate


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I lost one of my little pandas last night :crying: He's been looking bad for a couple of days, clamped fins and no interest in food. Water parameters were fine and no other physical symptoms, so I was at a loss for what to do. I asked some cory experts on another forum and they couldn't recommend anything other than extra water changes, which I did, but he looked like he was dying yesterday evening when I had to go out, and when I came back 4 hours later he had disappeared - presumably dead and eaten. :crying: RIP little cory!


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

Aw, I'm so sorry 

There seems to have been a bit of a run of people having bad luck with their fish at the moment. Do the others all look okay at least?


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## scosha37 (Feb 24, 2008)

Aww i do like corys! i have a bronez cory he is big one


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Thanks folks. Yes the others look OK and are nice and active, they had great fun with the daphnia I gave them yesterday


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## JessIncaFCR (Oct 1, 2012)

Sorry about your one little guy....

Glad that the rest are all ok and they really do look lovely...I just love cories!!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Thanks  I see from your sig that you have trilineatus, they're probably my favourite corys  I'd have got some of them if I could, but after researching different species I figured that pandas would be best suited to my tank. I'd love to see some pics of your trils though!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Well some sad news on the panda cory front... out of the 7 in total that I bought, I'm down to only 2  They seem to be dying off one by one, with no symptoms until a couple of hours before they die. I've tested the water parameters which are normal, and tried melafix, but to no avail. It seems they're more delicate fish than I realised, and just don't like my water


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## Dan1234 (Dec 3, 2012)

Sorry to hear about the cories, what temp is your tank? I always thought the Panda's liked it on the cool side around 20-22 degrees.
Other than that maybe just bad stock? Or a bully fish?


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

Aw, I'm sorry Naomi


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Dan1234 said:


> Sorry to hear about the cories, what temp is your tank? I always thought the Panda's liked it on the cool side around 20-22 degrees.
> Other than that maybe just bad stock? Or a bully fish?


I think it's my hardness and pH they don't like - I have hard water and pH 8, which is pretty high for them. Temp is set to 23 though it sometimes goes up as far as 25 on a hot day, but I was reassured by a cory expert that this shouldn't be a problem for them, and it certainly shouldn't cause them to just keel over and die like they've been doing. I think they're just more sensitive to pH and hardness than I had thought.


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## Dan1234 (Dec 3, 2012)

NaomiM said:


> I think it's my hardness and pH they don't like - I have hard water and pH 8, which is pretty high for them. Temp is set to 23 though it sometimes goes up as far as 25 on a hot day, but I was reassured by a cory expert that this shouldn't be a problem for them, and it certainly shouldn't cause them to just keel over and die like they've been doing. I think they're just more sensitive to pH and hardness than I had thought.


I guess its impossible to say for sure what's happening to the poor little things. I wouldn't have thought the PH/Hardness would be much of a issue though, especially since they've been acclimatised for a while and I assume the PH stays pretty stable.
I would look more toward Bully fish/water quality/food/temp or just plain old bad pet shop stock  before I'd look to PH. 
Hope the rest of the little mites keep going strong!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

They're the only bottom dwellers I have, and I've never seen any of the other fish giving them a hard time. The tetras will nick their pellets sometimes, but I tend to put in a couple of extra pellets after lights out to give them a better chance (plus they get bloodworm or daphnia twice a week), and none of the ones I've lost have looked thin - they've just suddenly keeled over, and then died within a couple of hours  I have no probs with water quality. Ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate is a little on the high side at 40-50, but that's what it is from the tap, and it's the same as they were in at the shops. And they're from two different shops too. So the only thing I could really put it down to was either pH, or some kind of infection that the melafix isn't treating.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Today I spoke to the manager of the shop where I got the first 4 pandas from, as he's always very knowledgeable and helpful. He reckons it's probably a bacterial problem of some kind, and told me I'm doing all the right things and to continue with the melafix. (He didn't offer to replace the fish that died, though!)

It's been nearly a week since the last death, so I'm hoping the melafix is now starting to work and my remaining 2 pandas will survive.


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

NaomiM said:


> Well some sad news on the panda cory front... out of the 7 in total that I bought, I'm down to only 2  They seem to be dying off one by one, with no symptoms until a couple of hours before they die. I've tested the water parameters which are normal, and tried melafix, but to no avail. It seems they're more delicate fish than I realised, and just don't like my water


They are probably wild caught?


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

NaomiM said:


> It's been nearly a week since the last death, so I'm hoping the melafix is now starting to work and my remaining 2 pandas will survive.


I really hope so, you've had rotten luck with some of your fish!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

> They are probably wild caught?


No, but according to the manager of the shop where I got the first 4, they're bred in Asia, probably in much softer water than my 'liquid rock'.



> I really hope so, you've had rotten luck with some of your fish!


Thanks  I'll keep you informed!


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## nickmcmechan (Aug 1, 2009)

NaomiM said:


> No, but according to the manager of the shop where I got the first 4, they're bred in Asia, probably in much softer water than my 'liquid rock'.
> 
> Thanks  I'll keep you informed!


Asian water is much softer, but they should be hardier. However, I have seen the set ups over there and they're not that dissimilar from salmon farms we have, so they can be prone to disease.

Do you have a QT tank?


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

No, the only spare tank I have is 14l, and I don't want to stress them out any further by moving them to such a small tank. If I did have a QT tank, I'd consider treating them with some antibiotics, but I don't want to destroy the filter bacteria in my community tank, especially without a firmer diagnosis, so I'm just going to stick to the melafix for now.


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