Dead Panda Cory's

[da7thson]

Hi All,

I have a 250L planted tank with Cardinal Tetra's x22 , amano shrimp x 8, 2 Apistogramma Agassizi, 1 clown pleco. I purchased 8 panda cory's about 2 - 3 weeks ago. I acclimatised them very gently as i know they are prone to stress. Unfortuntaly the day after i lost one of them and removed him from the tank. Since then they have been fine and happy. I have looked in the tank today (about 3 weeks later) and have found another one dead. Up to this point they have all seemed happy and burrowing in the sand substrate.

Just wondering if any of you have any idea's what might be causing this? All the other fish in there are fine and happy and have been for over 6 months. there is 0 ammonia or Nitrite and i do a 20 - 30% water change every week without fail and use Prime as my dechorinator.

Cheers

Andy

 

[thereverendturtle]

Sorry about the loss. I wish I could help, but all I know is, when I worked at a lfs, that was the cory with the highest mortality rate.
Hopefully the rest will survive a long time for you.

 

[chokko]

using liquid test kits?

nitrate reading?

ph?

water temp?

water hardness?

food?

how big are they (i.e. so we know if they are adults or kiddies) ?

 

[Mowbz]

You could spend all day on this unfortunately, its common with Panda's, makes me wonder how many the fish store lose when they come in. I dont think anyone has manged to attribute it to any one thing. I got 12 (in 2 lots of 6) in the space of Sept-Oct last year, losing 1 or two a week for the first few weeks until i got to 8, no further losses since.

As above, this subject often comes up when people lose one or two at first introduction. Bonus points for anyone that can work out what it is, but there are some likely theories. The most common being that Panda's (along with several other types of Corydoras) have the ability to secrete a toxin from their gills when stressed, which when built up in larger amounts can poison themselves and others.

Don't stress yourself over it, just makes sure the substrate is ultra clean (i have to vac mine twice a week to keep their barbels in good nick) and keep up regular water changes.

 

[da7thson]

using liquid test kits? Yes the Tetra individual Kits

nitrate reading? 25 mg/l (this is 6 days since the last water change - I have a heavy planted tanks so it keeps the levels down. I do water changes every weekend, so this is approx a weeks worth of Nitrate)

ph? between 6.5 and 7

water temp? 24oC

water hardness? Very Soft

food? The tank gets a mixture of Novo Pleco Pellets, New Era Discus Pellets, Tetra TabiMin Tablets and fish flake. I also give the tank (about once a week) frozen live food (bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia)

how big are they (i.e. so we know if they are adults or kiddies) ? About 1.5 cm - 2cm

Thanks for all your input Guys

Andy