Panda cory woes

[Copper Ridge Life]

I guess mostly I'm just posting to not go through this alone anymore. If anyone has advice that's wonderful too. I've been keeping fish for about 7 years and found the Coop about three years ago but never tried keeping corydoras before. About 9 months ago I bought my first group of 8 panda cories and I loved them instantly. They are so fun to watch. They were tiny little things but looked healthy. Over about three days I lost 5. The three that were left were eating and growing. A few weeks later I bought three more and treated the entire tank with prazi pro just for good measure as I had not seen any symptoms other than simply death of my other cories. I lost one new cory three days later. He was a new one because they were noticeably smaller than the others. I didn't loose another for a month or two. Then I lost one out of the blue and was down to four. They were eating and growing but extremely skiddish and shy unlike when I had a larger group. They hid all the time and one had worn barbles that I thought was from the stress of a small group as they were on a soft sand. I purchased four more and was back to 8 again. They were so much more outgoing and playful. They even bred a few times but I wasn't trying to get babies so I didn't do anything about them. I've now lost two more with apparent bacterial infections.  They slow down over a week or so and their eyes just don't seem as bright and eventually develop ragged or missing pieces of fins almost overnight. I am so tired of losing them; I decided to put their tank to the med trio (prazipro instead of general cure as it's what I had)today and am hoping for the best. I would like to create a 40 gallon South American inspired tank with them eventually but for now I am keeping them in their quarantine alone until I don't have symptoms for a while. Thanks for reading and take care.

[Flumpweesel]

I keep other corys and have generally found them very hardy no fuss fish. However my friend was losing pandas for observable no reason. They were replaced by bronze corys that thrived in the same set up.

I tried to save his last panda by moving it to an established nano set up where it wouldn't be threatened or need to compete for food but just faded over a few weeks.

I wonder if they just aren't a very strong variant which is a shame because they are adorable  obviously my observations are a very small sample so not fact at all said mainly to encourage you to try a different Cory rather than give up on them. Happily all corys are pretty cool.

 

[Copper Ridge Life]

I have wondered the same thing as I've noticed a lot of panda trouble comments and questions around the internet. I do hope to get these guys through this but may not purchase panda corydoras again. Maybe a different type though. 

[Colu]

What are your water parameters and what temperature are you keeping them at

[Copper Ridge Life]

This morning ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0, nitrate was 5-10, with my api master kit. I do allow nitrate to reach 20 at times. Ph is 8.2, gh is 14, kh is 8. Ph, gh and kh are definitely on the high side I realize but I also know others who keep pandas and other corydoras successfully in water this hard. I have considered softening it by mixing in RO, but honestly would rather avoid the hassle. However, I may decide to just for their tank if I can't get them healthy and not add them to a display. 

Oh sorry... temperature is 74-75 on the thermometer and set to 75.

[Colu]

Your water parameters are fine your pH is on the higher side of what they like sometimes you can do more harm messing with your water parameters than good  it possible it could be a bacterial infection that lingering in that tank so when your adding your new batch and they are stress they are becoming susceptible to it you could try I course of kanaplex in food 

[Copper Ridge Life]

Thanks so much. Yes I definitely do believe it is bacterial but at this point wanted to cover all my bases. They are going through the med trio at the moment but I will definitely give this a try afterwards if I continue to see troubles. I think kanaplex treats bacteria erythromycin doesn't, correct? My survivors seem to tolerate the trio meds as of today, thankfully.

[Colu]

Kanaplex treat's gram negative and some gram positive bacterial while erythromycin treats gram positive kanaplex is a more broad spectrum antibiotic treatment

[lojack323]

I just wanted to chime in and let you know that you’re not alone with the panda woes. 

About a decade ago I got my first batch of panda corys and they were bullet proof and bred quite a bit in my community tank. 

About a year ago I got a new tank and decided I had more space for a larger group of them. I bought some pandas from multiple places, local and online, and none survived very long. Some didn’t make it through QT, others slowly stopped eating and would die after making it through QT and into my main tank. 

It was quiet frustrating since my original pandas were thriving the whole time. I’ve since stopped trying to add new pandas and have been encouraging the others to breed to increase my group.

One interesting thing idea I came across going through this last year, was that many pandas probably are just too overbred/inbred and overuse of antibiotics at fish farms overseas.

Hopefully your guys make it through the meds. Good luck!

[Copper Ridge Life]

So far so good...they were not super happy with me when I first added the meds but seem okay right now. Saturday I will do a 50% water change and probably do that a couple times a week for a bit. I have 6 cories right now, they'd probably like more buddies but not until I know these guys are okay and can go in my 40. Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. 

[Copper Ridge Life]

My remaining 6 went through the med trio well. After the 40-50% water change they're already breeding again. I even had at least one fry survive treatment. I don't plan on actively trying to breed them but any surviving babies are certainly welcome. Hopefully everyone continues to do well. Thanks again for everyone's support!