The Panda Tank

[Xebadir]

Some of you may recall my despair and the difficulty i had in finding Corydoras Pandatus in Australia.

I managed to get a hold of 6 of them and they were happy as punch. Then about a month ago I lost two to causes unknown in a week. However the four that remain are still going strong. Then i decided that id had enough of platy fry and that the 30 platies i nthe tank(thats juvenile +) had to go, so as of this week the main tank was converted over to africans. But still one issue remained....what to do with the pandas that i worked so hard to find:

The solution "The Panda tank". The other day while perusing the LFS i came across an interesting looking corner tank (quarter hexagonal) and thought it would be perfect so i would have to get rid of my plants from the community(those that cant cope with cichlids), and eventually this became the idea for a purely panda setup. 6 Gallons with a coarse sand substrate, 2 pieces of driftwood(one forming a cave) with attached anubias, and java moss, a bed of microsword and here i am now. The filtration is a minature canister, and ive never seen my cories so happy. There is no heating in the tank(my room is around 20 degrees in winter) and the cories love it.

And whats more it satifies my MTS lol. Pictures will come once i have money to do the LED lighting setup i plan.

 

[Xebadir]

An Update on the panda tank:

The cories are looking happier than ever and with the varied diet im not sure but im think my females are starting to get larger with eggs. The sexing is definitely 2 males, 2 females. Will post some pictures tommorow.

 

[Xebadir]

Well im shocked, confused and kinda proud, I think i have panda eggs.

Little browny balls on the rear of leaves, and they are definitively no snails in the tank whatsoever. Does this sound about right for Panda spawns? More to the point whats a panda's first spawn size like: ive got prolly 10 eggs although i have an idea that a few became lunch. Atm all i have is a breeder net to house them(or a small(1-2 Gallon) empty plastic that i could prolly setup if i got an airstone.)

This spawn caught me by surprise if it is that, ive only had them in the tank for a shortish period of time. Perhaps the tank change with the decrease in hardness and temperature induced them.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Picture of the eggs:

 

[jollysue]

Still waiting for those tank shots....

I know nothing about panda eggs. If my pandas have spawned, they left the eggs where I can't see them.

Keep the updates coming.

Inchworm has always said pandas are harder to keep. When I got mine, they were on sale and I got a bunch. At first I lost a few moving them around until they got a settled tank home. Now they have been very stable for about 10 months. There are some females who show up fat with eggs. Don't ask me what on earth they do with them?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Xebadir

I can't see them too clearly on the picture, but panda eggs do get quite dark. Here's a picture of them in the various stages of development:

The eggs on the right were freshly spawned and as you move left you will see them as they have gotten older. As you can see, a few got fungus too.

Pandas are often egg eaters and will hide them from the others if they can. I use the thermometers for them to hide them under instead of putting them on the plants and making it hard for me to find them. My pandas like to spawn in the evenings and during the night. If I want to save them, I just move them out of the panda tank and transfer the eggs to a container in one of my other tanks to hatch. Then the fry, which are fairly large compared to many other corys, get moved into whichever of my tanks has the youngest fry.

Congratulations on being able to keep your pandas healthy and happy!

 

[Xebadir]

*Does the panda dance* Woot they are panda eggs then: Look like the ones second from the left thermometer is covering. Exactly how long do they take to hatch? Ive got them in a small plastic tank I use for other young fish, with an airstone putting a bit of air into the water. What sort of temps are needed to raise fry?
How is fertility determined with the eggs? I cant believe they actually bred Talk about amazing things happen when you pandas get to rule a new joint.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Xebadir

Panda eggs hatch in about four days. If they start to darken, they are fertile.

I usually keep the panda fry at around 75 degrees F. This is a little warmer than I keep the adults, but not too much. I've heard that a warmer temperature speeds up their metabolism and causes them to eat more and grow faster, but because pandas are so prone to bacterial infections, I don't want to risk going higher and making the environment more friendly for the harmful bacteria to grow in.

Now that your pandas have started spawning, you can probably expect more from time to time, so perhaps it's time to think about the future. You will need a tank to grow the fry in. You will also need to plan to do daily partial water changes in the fry tank and locate a good food for them. I recommend microworms since they are nutritious and don't pollute the water as quickly as liquid fry foods do.

Baby fish are the surest way to catch a major case of MTS!

 

[jollysue]

Congratulations, Xebadir!

 

[Xebadir]

When keeping the eggs in the hatching tank do I need to change the water(im using water from the adults tank) and how often?

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

Well done Xebadir

That is brilliant news. I know you've really battled to find them and had some losses, so this is just great. Good luck and look forward to how things progress.

 

[Xebadir]

Just wondering what sort of depth the water should be for the eggs, and whether I should be keeping the tank warm. Also should i be changing the water or wait until there wrigglers?

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

Hi Xebadir

I have a fry tank that I hatch and raise my cory and oto fry in. It's a 24"x15"x15" planted tank. I place all eggs in a breeding net, and the fry stay in the net for about 10-14 days, depending on how fast they grow.

I have the tank at 25 degrees C, which is about 76 degrees F. I do daily water changes once they've hatched, but after a couple of weeks its every second day and eventually twice a week. It depends on how old my fry are. When it was just eggs in the tank, I only did the water changes once they hatched, but when there were fry as well as eggs, they eggs I just did normal water changes. Make sure the eggs are alway submerged, they tend to fungus out of water.

Good luck, and look forward to news on their progress.

 

[Xebadir]

Sounds like ive made my first mistake. I couldve kept them in a breeder net but i read that people have problems with them. The water they are in is only 20 degrees, in a seperate 4L tank, with airstone added. I have a tank prolly 10L that I planned to use if they hatch and would work from there(id get a fry tank if required). Dont know how they will go, have no idea when they were deposited, just that they appear the fertile colour. Im keeping them in the dark ,as some say light is the cause of fungus. Am I right for this?

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

i have read that some people have problems with breeding nets, luckily I haven't. I do remove mine from time to time for cleaning, and as I said, the fry only stay in them for 10-14 days. I also don't over fill them with fry. I only keep up to 20 max per net. I have tank lights and the breeding net is underneath. I just cover the eggs with java moss and they tend to do fine. Touch wood, I've only ever had a couple of eggs fungus from my pandas and I've had quite a few spawns.

With breeding fish, like everything else in life, you will make mistakes and you will learn from them. Other peoples advice does help and when we first started breeding cories, we weren't on this forum yet, and had to learn a lot from our mistakes. I was just lucky that I'd bred the bronze cories before the pandas, so had some experience. Even with the best setup, things can go wrong.

You will find out what works best for you, and you will succeed, I'm sure of it.

 

[Xebadir]

Well it seems that I may not have great worries with this batch of eggs, as one of my females is loaded again. The other female looks like she also may be working on it. hmmm...must have got something right with this setup...funny though: they so far have only spawned(as far as i can see) on my blue stricta. Thats the thing with cories: they dont play be the rules.