bye bye pandas

[-cAtFiSh-]

a few days ago i found one dead panda cory. this morning i found two dead panda cories. i have no idea how they died and now i only have two left .

nitrites are 0ppm, ammonia 0ppm and nitrates 5ppm.

any suggestions on how they could have died?
i noticed that the ones that died had no barbels (the two that are left have very small ones). i think that is because of the gravel that was in the tank, i changed to sand though last week. could having no barbels have something to do with them dying? they were all getting plenty of food and they seemed perfectly healthy and lively.

i dont know whether i should get some more pandas or wait and see if these ones die. i dont really want to go out and spend a fortune on some new ones, only to have them dying on me again.

bye pandas, you will be missed

 

[Nauplii]

oh no! poor pandas! i have 2 and they are so sweet.... im sorry for your lose catfish...

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

its really unsetting because i havent had a fish die or anything like this happen for ages. it really cuts you down

 

[bunjiweb]

What substrate do you have in the 24G?

 

[Angry_Platy]

Bye bye fishies.....

 

[Inchworm]

Hi -cAtFiSh-

I'm sorry to learn about your pandas.

A cory's barbels are sensory organs that help them find their food. Without them they could starve. Sharp or rough substrate can erode them, and so can unhealthy water conditions or bacterial infections (finrot).

Do keep your water clean and fresh and watch your remaining corys to be sure their condition is not getting worse, and look for spots or other symptoms of infection.

I would also suggest that you confirm your water parameter readings, since if you just changed your substrate, it seems that you should have lost beneficial bacteria, and so your readings could be off.

 

[Nauplii]

oh... wat if i have like fine gravel? should i change it to sand or something?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Vixen

If your gravel is fine and smooth with no sharp edges it is good. I use it myself and have had good luck with it for years.

If you watch your corys use their barbels you will notice that they use them like little fingers moving the bits of gravel and probing into the spaces around it. If they are having any difficulty doing this, then you probably have gravel that is too large. If they don't, you are most likely OK with what you have.

 

[MissClaire]

Inchworm - I have really large gravel...do you suggest I keep an eye on my corys barbels? Thats their little moustaches right? They dont seem to have lost any or worn down...But I'll definatly know to look out for it now. Can they grow back overtime?

 

[yhbae]

Whatever its worth, I used to have large gravels (the ugly blue ones you find in the Walmart) and panda cories absolutely had no issues with this substrate. I changed to pool filter sand because they were trapping so much junk between the gravels. (PFS is MUCH better in this respect). These are super-smooth though.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

i found my last two pandas dead today .

Inchworm i checked my parameters again and they are the same. i water is fresh and clean too, i do a partial water change once a week. the only think i can think of that could be making it dirty would be my bristlenose waste. she poos alot lol.

i dont know what it could be. i'm thinking i wont get any more pandas for now and try another fish instead.

bunjiweb i have sand substrate

 

[yhbae]

i found my last two pandas dead today .

Inchworm i checked my parameters again and they are the same. i water is fresh and clean too, i do a partial water change once a week. the only think i can think of that could be making it dirty would be my bristlenose waste. she poos alot lol.

i dont know what it could be. i'm thinking i wont get any more pandas for now and try another fish instead.

bunjiweb i have sand substrate

There must be some reason why they all died around the same time despite living in the tank for a while...

I too have bristlenoses in my tank, and there are alot of poo - again, panda cories are fine in that tank. I have to admit, I did add another Aqua Clear Mini recently, which seems to be helping to pick up most of the bristlenose poo. My 25g now features AC200 and AC Mini.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

yeah it is really weird that they died all around the same time. i had had them for over a month at least

 

[Nauplii]

i really need to change the gravel in my 10 gal... it traps EVERYTHING i swear(not literally) but i really need the time to go ge some and then take it all out with the fish... it probably also because my filter only trickles now... no matter how much i clean it... it just dont work... so ill have to rip it out and get an eheim filter because its really annoying me


i had a bristlenose pleco but... it died

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

sorry to hear about you bnose . i would die if my bnose died. you get really attached to them