What would you do?

[clutterydrawer]

So, I lost another panda cory today, and I've made the decision not to replace him. I've lost count of how many I've lost in the last six months for no apparent reason so obviously something in my tank doesn't agree with them, so if I get any more I'm only eventually consigning them to an early death. I only have this problem with panda cories, no other fish I've kept has been so sensitive.

But, I have three left (out of six) and I feel they'd be happier in bigger shoal. Dilemma!

Should I...


- leave them as they are and never get any more cories ever;
- get some more of a similar looking species, like Metae, and hope they make friends, but that the new ones are hardier;
- get some more of a totally different species, and select the hardiest species I can, without gettting bronze or peppered cos they're too big
- get some pygmies and hope they are more suited to my small (15g) tank, and leave the remaining pandas to do as they wish


I just don't know what would be best for my fish.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I'd get a totally different species.

 

[GSD]

me 2..you get a change your LFS might have a faulty supply of pandas coming in and all types usally shoal togther

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your loss, i have three that's all they had left at the lfs, try another variety of cory, the bronze cory.

 

[clutterydrawer]

i dont really want bronze or peppered cos they're pretty big, anyone got any recommendations for a hardy species as small as possible?

 

[WILDER]

What about these.
http/www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/pygmycory.xml

 

[Tolak]

I second the pygmy corys. I have some pandas, lost a few over the last year. I keep various corys in my angel grow out tanks, once in a while a panda will die for no apparent reason. Started keeping pygmys 6 months ago, picked up 5 more 2 months ago, for a total of 11. Hard to find, but seem really hardy, maybe I'm a bit of a spazz, but the scale of the smaller pygmys seems more correct to the size if pea size juvie angels. If I run into more, they're coming home.

Tolak

 

[Raechal]

I know all of the albino cories I have had all stay REALLY small. Like an inch or under and I have had them months and they haven't grown. I am not sure if they stay smaller or not, but they are all definately smaller than my bronze and green cories.

 

[smithrc]

we've lost 7 out of 8 pandas now

the one we have left has been put in with our pigmys.. and they have nothing to do with each other.

Once we've moved we;ll be getting her some friends of a different species. we're getting some Corydoras adolfoi's next.

 

[smithrc]

P.S. the pigmys are a bit different too - ours have 'sessions' of thinking they are rummy noses. they actually schoal with them and everything

They have also had fry in our tank, but they got eaten as we didnt notice the eggs at all and then we opny spotted the fry when it was too late

 

[yvez9]

my pigmy cories shoal with the betta they're in with
it's so funny to watch

panda cories are pretty much the weakest cories i know of so i tend to not purchase them. Albino cories are hardy and usually stay smaller than the average cory.

Pigmies seem hardy. I Lost one out of the 5 I got for no apparent reason though...

 

[clutterydrawer]

the albino bronze i used to have were pushing three inches, they seemed too b ig for the tank

so now my dilemma is....do i get pygmies cos they're small even though they probably won't shoal with the pandas, or something that wil shoal with the pandas but is a bit bigger??

thanks for your insight everyone

 

[smithrc]

I'd get them some friends

 

[clutterydrawer]

grand. I'm off to look for some C. metae I think. ta!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi clutterydrawer

It's too bad that you have had such bad luck with your pandas. They are just very hard to keep, so please don't feel it was your fault. I've lost a lot of them myself. The worst part is that they seem to just die so quickly, often before you even know that anything is wrong with them.

I've had good luck with the C. metae though. They are attractive fish but quite a bit bigger than the pandas. Here's a link with the basic info:

http/www.scotcat.com/factsheets/metae.html

IMHO, they are much easier to keep than the pandas since they don't require any more water changes or special attention than any of the other corys do.

I hope you get them. The little "bandits" will be a nice addition to your tank.