Going To The Surface For Air Gulps

[Orbit887]

I think I can understand why my Pandas goto the surface for air, but why is it that they take so many attempts sometimes to get to the surface?

My tank is 18" deep, and most of the time when the little guys head for the surface for their air gulps, they go up to about 1cm from the surface, then change their minds head to bottem, then head back upto the surface again. It sometimes can take them 10 attempts or so to get the gulp!

Is my tank too deep for the,? I've not heard of 18" being a probelm depth, or have they just got poor eyesight and cant judge weel where the surface is?!

Thanks,


Orbit887

 

[kevin007]

I know what you mean, what other fish do you have inthe tank, maybe they are scared of the middle and top swimming fishes?

 

[Orbit887]

Currently stocked with 6 neon tetras and 3 three spot gouramis (which are off out of the tank as of tomorrow)

They dont seem to be bothered by the other fish at all, the gouramis are often at the bottom with them and they seem ok.

When they're hanging out together, 3 or 4 of them at a time will go for the surface, but one of them in the group might take 3 or more attempts, whereas the others will be fine.

I've watched them also when the air stone is on, and then they seem to just be playing in the current more when going for the surface, so could they just be 'messing around', or is this not a normal behavour? They are all quite young panda - biggest is about 1 1/4", and all about the same size, so maybe they're jsut being cheeky juvinals and playing with me!

 

[Glod]

My corys act the same way in the community tank which is 25 inches deep. They have no problem getting to the top, sometimes they just seem to change their mind

 

[Sp00ky]

i dont think theres any problems with the depth. I have a large amount of corys in a 36" deep tank and the manage to get to the top ok from time to time. However, if you want to prevent this action abit more, try increasing the aeriation. will negate the need for so many breaths. Or at least thats what i have found with my collection

 

[NEONCORY]

I second for Sp00ky,

I think the Panda does enjoy the highly oxgenated water. They are after all originated from the nearer the front end of the river, so I hear. And they sure enjoy the "current" of the river which I have in my tank. The outlet of power filter and power head. They do tend to hang around a lot around the current.
Although I don't have any other fish in their tank, they rarely go up for the air. They tend to do that more often when the water quality is not high. Like just after I clouded the water by millions of walterworms.
Anyway, I believe Panda enjoy high oxygen in the water more than any other Corys. They also prefer the colder water which have more oxygen in it. My Panda tank doesn't even have heater and it hover around low 70. And they often make eggs same day after I do the big water change with colder water.

I know what you all thinking. If it is that easy, I should water change everyday and get eggs everyday. No folks, they are not egg making machine. They can't do it everyday. It is more like every 3~4 days.
Anyway, getting air from surface is like yawning. It tend to caused by the lack of oxygen in the water most of the time. This is purely my opinion and is not backed up by any scientific evidence. And this message should eliminate soon after you read it.

 

[Barracuda518]

I have to agree with the aeriation thing. I have air stones in all of my tanks and I hardly ever see the cories go to the top and gulp. They will shoot up to the top really fast after eating. Cories do this to help digest their food, but they are not supposed do it all the time. Like what has been said, gulping at the top can be a sign of not enough oxygen in the water.

 

[Orbit887]

Think I've found out why they're struggling!

Last night took a stanley blade to the inside of the tank to get rid of the hard algae that'd been growing on the glass. Took off one half of the front of the tank with the blade, but then left the otherside as was getting late and I was tired.

Soon after I got into bed & was watching the fish, I noticed one of the corrys trying to get to the surface. He'd go straight up, but as soon as he was in sight of the glass that I'd cleaned he'd try up swim into it, as if he thought it continued into more tank space! About 5 mins later, and after a few more attempts, he tried to go again to the surface, but this time on the side of the tank with the algae still on it, and had no problem at all!

The corrys go up to the surface for air a couple of times a day at the most, which is perfectly normal from what i've read up on and heard. Think the reason for them having difficulty in my tank was from the clean glass, giving the impression that they had more space to swim in and get to the surface with!

 

[Maxta]

Mine will sometimes do that, my tanks only 12 inches deep. Sometimes they'll go up and then down, then half way up and down, then sometimes theyl swim back and forth across the glass and then go back down. Once they get the air they go back to the bottom. Guess its just a thing they do.