Panda Cory Loss / New Plants

[duflockaginge]

Hello

Currently have a 55 Gal ~ 200L planted tank with 5-Albino Corys, 3-Panda Corys, 11-Neon Tetras and 2-Rabbit snails.

I introduced originally 4 pandas 4/10 from local Petco

I added a few new plants 4/21 and suddenly the next day noticed 1 suffering Cory. He did not make it through the night.

I really wasn’t sure what had happened. He was hiding in an extremly abnormal spot from normal behavior and laying on side. Struggling to swim. Also slightly appeared to be shedding skin or some sort of white growth?

Did I accidentally injury him while planting the day before I wondered as no other fish showed any signs of issue.

As I closely monitored his final hours he did seem slimer then the others and his tail fin a bit imperfect compared to the healthy. Top fin laying flat.

Now 4/24 am I begging to worry for another panda of the remaining 3. Lethargic not reacting to much. Fins seem ok but he may be thin as well.

water Conditions are good and as stated no other fish are experiencing any issues and seem
To be thriving. Only thing new prior to issues with my pandas were the plants introduced.

I’ve read a lot of the other posts before telling my story and my faith in the hardiness Panda breed has taken quite a blow.

Is it possible these new plants could have introduced some Bacterial Infection that the pandas were just to weak naturally while the albinos and tetras are immune ?

any tips on treating new plants before adding to an established tank if that was the issue?

 

[coriesinhawaii]

Sorry to hear about your fish loss. I’ve definitely had algae introduced to my tank via live plants before. It seems possible that microorganisms could be introduced that way as well.

I do a bleach dip on all live plants before adding them to my tank. Make sure to use plain bleach without any additives and mix 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Only dip the plants for 90 seconds to 150 seconds (depending on how delicate the plant is) and rinse thoroughly under running water for a minute. Afterwards let them soak in a bucket of water with plenty of dechlorinator added before adding to the tank.

As a side note I’ve had snail eggs, a damselfly nymph, and anubius melt all survive these dips and appear in my tank after, so it’s not a cure-all. But it does seem to cut down on nasty stuff being introduced to the tank.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Panda Corydoras are also very susceptible to diseases, due to inbreeding.

Is it possible these new plants could have introduced some Bacterial Infection that the pandas were just to weak naturally while the albinos and tetras are immune ?

It is possible that the plants had something on them that caused the corys to die. Or, some of the plants may have been dead, and that caused a big ammonia spike.

What are your water parameters?

 

[duflockaginge]

Panda Corydoras are also very susceptible to diseases, due to inbreeding.

It is possible that the plants had something on them that caused the corys to die. Or, some of the plants may have been dead, and that caused a big ammonia spike.

What are your water parameters?

I haven’t experienced any ammonia spikes. I test daily with 10-20% water change. Using Prime conditioner.

ph 7
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite .25 ~ .50 ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

I separated the 2nd Cory I was worried about in qTank with API Pimafix.

Did not make the night. So now 2/4 pandas have passed since adding the new plants.

The remaining 2 are larger and seem to be doing fine.

 

[Byron]

I do not think it likely the plants are the issue. It is more likely something with the cories themselves, be it genetic, disease, injury, whatever.

Nitrite showing in tests is not good. While Prime may "detoxify" nitrite (and nitrate), it is temporary and they remain unless removed by plants, bacteria or water changes.

What are the parameters, meaning GH, pH and temperature? Is the substrate sand or gravel [this is not going to kill them, but it is a factor in their overall health long-term]?

 

[duflockaginge]

I do not think it likely the plants are the issue. It is more likely something with the cories themselves, be it genetic, disease, injury, whatever.

Nitrite showing in tests is not good. While Prime may "detoxify" nitrite (and nitrate), it is temporary and they remain unless removed by plants, bacteria or water changes.

What are the parameters, meaning GH, pH and temperature? Is the substrate sand or gravel [this is not going to kill them, but it is a factor in their overall health long-term]?

I have not tested GH.. but know I have hard water. pH 7. Temp 72 Sand substrate.

 

[Byron]

I have not tested GH.. but know I have hard water. pH 7. Temp 72 Sand substrate.

You may be able to find the GH from your water authority's website if you are on municipal water. It is worth knowing. But the other parameters are OK here, so it is back to the fish themselves.

In situations like this, I like to check the remaining fish in the store tank, to see if they are OK or also experiencing losses. May be a bit late for that now, but it is sometimes instructive.

I will just mention that this species of cory is one of the most social, and should always be acquired in a group (at least five, more if tank space will allow) as they will settle in better the more there are of their own.

 

[duflockaginge]

You may be able to find the GH from your water authority's website if you are on municipal water. It is worth knowing. But the other parameters are OK here, so it is back to the fish themselves.

In situations like this, I like to check the remaining fish in the store tank, to see if they are OK or also experiencing losses. May be a bit late for that now, but it is sometimes instructive.

I will just mention that this species of cory is one of the most social, and should always be acquired in a group (at least five, more if tank space will allow) as they will settle in better the more there are of their own.

When I bought my albinos I bought the local store out to not leave any behind. (5 total)

when I added the pandas there was 8 at the local store and I opted to take 4 trying to be generous and leave 4 behind for another buyer.

now that I have lost 2 of my 4 would I be crazy to even try to add more pandas so my 2 have some friends?

 

[Byron]

When I bought my albinos I bought the local store out to not leave any behind. (5 total)

when I added the pandas there was 8 at the local store and I opted to take 4 trying to be generous and leave 4 behind for another buyer.

now that I have lost 2 of my 4 would I be crazy to even try to add more pandas so my 2 have some friends?

The pandas you have that survived would certainly benefit with more, but the question is, are the pandas in the store OK or not?

My "cory" tank has some 40 cories, representing several species; one species has 7, a couple other species have 5 each, and other species fewer due to this or that. I have five pandas within this group, and they do spend a lot of time socializing within their own species, though they do also chum around with others too.

 

[Gypsum]

Lots of people have had problems with panda corys. Ian Fuller himself told me that certain species, including pandas and C. trilineatus, have been mass produced indiscriminately and there's a lot of weakness and unhealthy fish within the tank-bred population. My wee shoal of pandas dropped dead one by one (I'd posted about it on the Corydoras World FB group -- hence Ian's advice), while other cory species -- C. schulzei and CW045 -- living in that tank were absolutely fine and my parameters were good. I have a single survivor, who now lives with C. adolphoi and CW009. It's the world's toughest panda cory, having survived two subsequent tank moves and an ich outbreak (long story).

That said, I'd want my nitrites to be zero and my nitrates to be near-as-dammit to zero before adding more corys. They also like soft water, so when you say your water is hard, just how hard is it?