UPDATE on Panda Cory Cats.

As some of you may know, I got 6 Panda Cory cats a few days ago. Here is the update:

One of them died. It was the really sick one, with almost no tail and dorsal fin. I kept up with the daily water changes and aquarium salt, but he didn't heal.

The other 5 are doing great. I want to know if this is normal. 2 of them are staying in a group and the other 2 are staying in a group. Is this ok? I thought they would all stay in a group. Could they be mating? (@Colin_T)

The other on is still in hiding, but doing good. I saw all 5 of them eat last night, I was so happy! Please give me advice... is the stuff I mentioned above normal?

(P.S. Whenever I try to feed them shrimp pellets, my greedy pleco comes over and steals the food from them, as he is much bigger. how do I prevent this?)

Feed them early in the day when the pleco is in hiding. He may need to go to another tank. Yes, it is normal for them to pair off some times. Don’t use too much aquarium salt with cories as they are not very salt tolerant, Glad your’s are doing well.

Shame about that one cory. My corys (c. schulzeii, CW045, c. carlae, and in the other tank, c. panda, c. habrosus, and c. pygmaeus) only run around in a huddled mass when they're alarmed by something (i.e. water changes) or if there's a scrum over an algae wafer. Otherwise, they're more likely to swim in groups of two or three or singly.

With feeding, spread out the shrimp pellets and make sure you're putting in enough for all the fish. The pleco can't be everywhere at once.

Gypsum said:

Shame about that one cory. My corys (c. schulzeii, CW045, c. carlae, and in the other tank, c. panda, c. habrosus, and c. pygmaeus) only run around in a huddled mass when they're alarmed by something (i.e. water changes) or if there's a scrum over an algae wafer. Otherwise, they're more likely to swim in groups of two or three or singly.

With feeding, spread out the shrimp pellets and make sure you're putting in enough for all the fish. The pleco can't be everywhere at once.

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Deanasue said:

Feed them early in the day when the pleco is in hiding. He may need to go to another tank. Yes, it is normal for them to pair off some times. Don’t use too much aquarium salt with cories as they are not very salt tolerant, Glad your’s are doing well.

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Thank you both.

Is that mating activity? Or is that just normal as you said?

Probably not. If they're mating, they'll race manically around the tank with the male-female pairs forming a t-position.

Mine haven’t mated. Just the buddy system.

Deanasue said:

Mine haven’t mated. Just the buddy system.

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Ok, thanks.

I’m just so glad that they finally came out. I can’t wait until they get fearless!

(Having them will also give me a motivation to keep my sand clean. Because whenever they sift our swim on it, it stirs up a lot of poop)

Yup totally normal.

My ONLY cories that shoal 100% of the time are my pygmy cories.

I have 22 normal sized cories in one tank and 17 in another. They all just go about their own business in small groups or pairs.

It shows they are comfortable if they're all spread out and not shoaling tightly. So its a compliment to you that you gave them a home they feel comfy in.

You cant mistake cory mating behavior. The male holds the female's face with his pelvic fins in a "T" position. Female swims off and multiple males chase her around relentlessly.

Interesting. Thank you for the information.

I have three sterabai cory cats. Two are always together and the third does his own thing. He only swims with the other two on occasion and when he does they race back and forth about half way up in the tank.

thurmanrd said:

I have three sterabai cory cats. Two are always together and the third does his own thing. He only swims with the other two on occasion and when he does they race back and forth about half way up in the tank.

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I personally suggest you get more Cory cats. (3 more)