How Many More?....

[Azaezl]

I posted a little while ago about 2 panda corys I rescued from a lfs and that they were in with my 2 bronze corys, well I've been thinking of getting a few more to make the groups bigger.
I wasn't sure how many more of each I could add as I've searched and found some recommendations of 5 bronze in a 10 gallon, so I'm assuming the inch per gallon rule is stretched a little with corys?

My tank is 13 gallons(14 US), the 2 bronze & 2 pandas are the only inhabitants, so how many more of each could I get? Also with the pandas does it have to be pandas or just something similar? It's just I've only ever seen my lfs have pandas once and ocassionally bronze so they will be easy to come by. The other shop has a variety of corys including bronze but not pandas, they do however have some metae, so would they be ok with the pandas or would it be best if I waited until I found some more pandas?

Thanks for reading

 

[fishboy619]

not sure about everything, i can say its not the tank size for cories or any bottom dweller, its the floor space, its easier to judge by eye, but just make sure each cory has enough room on the floor, usally having groups of just 1 species of cories is best, i personally would wait for more pandas, or get a few more bronze.it depends on the other fish you add later, a small top/mid dwelling would be ok, if filtering and waterchanges are kept up.

 

[saphphx]

well... what filter do you have? You can fiddle ground space as long as you have the filtration. I would say 5 of each, the pandas will be 1/2 to 3/4 of the size of the bronze fully grown. What I mean by fiddle the size is: Take cut glass or plexi and make shelves 2-3 inches off the floor, as many shelves as you need or want, and it makes more ground space. My mate has even added ledges on his and filled them with sand, so you get max floor levels. You do need the filtration to keep up with the fish, and places for them to hide. My fish loved them, and when I get some more cash I will be adding shelves to more tanks Just use fish safe silicon I can't find a pic of what I mean, but can do up a paint shop image or something if you want. They normally sell the kind of thing I am on about for reptiles like geckos and things

 

[Azaezl]

Thanks for replying

The tank is 2ft x 1ft, I do 20/25% water changes every mon / thurs, the tank is slightly overfiltered as well. I don't plan on having anything apart from cories in it. It looks pretty bare with just the 4 of them, esp. because the pandas are only tiny and I don't think the bronze are fully grown yet either. I was thinking 2 more of each but that would be overstocked by the 1" per gal rule, I just want them to feel safe and be as happy as poss. I'll actually be moving the bronze after I move house as I'm going to upgrade my goldfish so their tank will be spare, so would 4 of each cory be ok short term?

 

[Azaezl]

I have an elite stingray 10, or maybe 15, I'll have to check, so not sure if it would be ok with a split level, sounds like a great idea, I'd never have thought of doing that. Not sure I'd want to go down that route though as I'd hate to screw it up and ruin my tank or poison the fish or crush them(due to not sticking it on properly), I'm hopeless at that sort of thing so I'm not sure I'd want to risk it.

As I said it will only be temporary and as soon as I can get it all sorted they will have their own seperate tanks, just wanted to check if 4 of each would be ok in that size tank for now so that they are as happy as poss.

Thanks again!

 

[fishboy619]

i think so, 4 of each sounds fine
saphphx do you have any photos of these shelves?
sounds like a good idea i might be willing to try out

 

[saphphx]

Thanks for replying

The tank is 2ft x 1ft, I do 20/25% water changes every mon / thurs, the tank is slightly overfiltered as well. I don't plan on having anything apart from cories in it. It looks pretty bare with just the 4 of them, esp. because the pandas are only tiny and I don't think the bronze are fully grown yet either. I was thinking 2 more of each but that would be overstocked by the 1" per gal rule, I just want them to feel safe and be as happy as poss. I'll actually be moving the bronze after I move house as I'm going to upgrade my goldfish so their tank will be spare, so would 4 of each cory be ok short term?

Short term like in the 10g til moving tanks? Yeah. Ideally you want 6 of each to keep them happy, I prefer 12 of each but few have the space. Should be fine until they get moved though just may want to up the filter and water changes, put some caves or plastic boxes with holes in them, so they can go in the box or on it, to give more ground space

Take care mate and enjoy your corys They are fantastic!

 

[Azaezl]

So should I up the water changes by frequency or amount? Sometimes I do 50%, depends on if I think it needs it, on average it's 25%. What size filter would you recommend? Thanks for your help

 

[saphphx]

So should I up the water changes by frequency or amount? Sometimes I do 50%, depends on if I think it needs it, on average it's 25%. What size filter would you recommend? Thanks for your help

Biggest filter you can buy and shove in it to be honest. I do about 20% every few days. Less water more often is less shock on the fish I think

 

[Azaezl]

Well bad news, 1 of the pandas died It's so weird, they've both been fine and appeared quite happy / eating well. I always stop and have a look in the tank on my way through the kitchen(and end up spending about 20 mins looking) and everyone was fine, then I just went past and noticed a panda laying next to the bridge, looked closer and it was dead! I don't understand why it died, all my stats seem fine and the other panda appears very healthy and is swimming about quite happily with the others playing in the bubbles etc. All I can think is maybe it wasn't happy and was stressed by it being just 2 of them, it didn't appear stressed as they all used to play alot and were all very active and ate well.

Now I really don't know what I'm going to do, I don't want the other panda to be alone but the lfs doesn't have any, the closest thing they have are 2 metae, maybe I should see if I can find it a new home with someone who has alot of them.