Need help with ailing panda cories

[fishychick]

I have 6 panda cories and all of them seem to have already lost or are losing their barbels. I had 7 pandas but lost one last weekend (I'm pretty sure he had pop eye, not sure what else) They also seem a bit twitchy at times. One has a red mark on or near his mouth. I was thinking one might have a white patch on his mouth and so I was researching cotton mouth, but now I'm not sure.
It's a 20 gallon tall with the pandas and 6 guppies. It's been up and cycled since Jan. Substrate is natural sand from lfs, with DW, lightly planted. I do a 50% pwc on weekends and vaccum. After a pwc I add BB, flourish, excel and dr Tims First Defense. (This week I started doing an additional smaller pwc with spot vaccum during the week to make sure the sand is super clean) I try to feed them a variety of food including sinking shrimp pellets, algae wafers or bloodworms. I was keeping temp 72-75 because I thought the pandas liked the water a little cooler but raised it to 76-78 a few days ago in case it was too cold.
In the past the guppies have shown signs of slight fun rot, but nothing major.
Ammonia-.15 (that's what my tap water is)
Nitrites-0
Nitrates around 20 before a pwc

My plan was to try to keep the water and sand pristine with additional pwc and vaccum and hope things cleared up, but I thought id check with you guys in case you had any insight or suggestions.
Any help is super appreciated. Thanks.


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[fishychick]

btw..sorry about the long post...

 

[brandonsfish]

It could be they are grinding there barbs on your substrate it doesn't look fine enough for them

 

[fishychick]

It could be they are grinding there barbs on your substrate it doesn't look fine enough for them

I had considered that too, but I thought that any sort of sand or smooth rock substrate would be good for cories? Do pandas need a finer grain substrate? I had never heard that. Thanks for the response!

 

[fishywishywowoo]

My best guess is wear on the substrate. Mine have really fine sand and have no issues. It looks a bit rough?

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[fishychick]

My best guess is wear on the substrate. Mine have really fine sand and have no issues. It looks a bit rough?

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Hmmmm that's really frustrating. I set up the tank with them in mind. I thought any sand substrate was ok for cories.

 

[fishywishywowoo]

It's only a guess though but I've not had this issue. Here's 2 of mine on finer sand. All have barbels intact

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[fishychick]

It's only a guess though but I've not had this issue. Here's 2 of mine on finer sand. All have barbels intact

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Yeah, I have a 20 long with pool filter sand that is really fine and my albino cories and bronze cory are all doing great. I guess I should be happy if the 20 tall is not a water quality issue or some sort of illness in the tank. Switching the sand would be kind of a pain but easier in the long run. Thanks for the input.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Yeah, I have a 20 long with pool filter sand that is really fine and my albino cories and bronze cory are all doing great. I guess I should be happy if the 20 tall is not a water quality issue or some sort of illness in the tank. Switching the sand would be kind of a pain but easier in the long run. Thanks for the input.

That substrate actually looks fine. I would suspect water quality issues actually. I have corys on eco complete and do not have issues and may people keep them on gravel without issue. Panda corys are a little more sensitive than many other common species. The 0.15 ammonia may be the issue here I would suspect. Also what is your temp? Pandas like it at about 77 and anything over that for a prolonged period of time leads to them not living very long.

 

[fishychick]

That substrate actually looks fine. I would suspect water quality issues actually. I have corys on eco complete and do not have issues and may people keep them on gravel without issue. Panda corys are a little more sensitive than many other common species. The 0.15 ammonia may be the issue here I would suspect. Also what is your temp? Pandas like it at about 77 and anything over that for a prolonged period of time leads to them not living very long.

I was keeping temp 72-75 because I thought the pandas liked the water a little cooler but raised it to 76-78 a few days ago in case it was too cold. Any thoughts on what I can do to get/keep the little guys healthy?

 

[Bbarb27]

I keep my pandas at 72, so I don't think the issue is temp related. Mine are also on pool filter sand, as are my juliis (they prefer warmer temps) so I think PFS is ok for cories. I agree that Pandas can be sensitive, and my guess would be water quality, although it sounds as if you do a good job of keeping everything clean. How soon after you do water changes is your ammonia back to down to 0?

 

[fishychick]

I keep my pandas at 72, so I don't think the issue is temp related. Mine are also on pool filter sand, as are my juliis (they prefer warmer temps) so I think PFS is ok for cories. I agree that Pandas can be sensitive, and my guess would be water quality, although it sounds as if you do a good job of keeping everything clean. How soon after you do water changes is your ammonia back to down to 0?

The sick pandas are on a natural beach sand I got at the lfs. My cories in a different tank are on pfs, sorry, not sure if that was clear. Honestly, I'm not really sure my ammonia has ever been 0. It always tests at .15 (unless a tank is cycling or something and it's much higher, etc) but since that's what my tap water is I just figured there would always be a slight trace of it and there wasn't much I could do about it. Is there something I should be/can do to get it to 0? Could an ammonia reading that low really be making the fish sick?

 

[Bbarb27]

When my tap water tested + for ammonia and nitrite after a flood a few years ago, I ran a HOB filter on a large rubber-made bin filled with water and used that water (0 ammonia and nitrite after being filtered overnight) for PWC's until my tap water was back to 0. But .15 ammonia is very slight and I'm assuming your biofilter is quickly converting that to zero, so I don't know if that really could be compromising the health of your fish. Have you ever tested the day after a PWC to see if your ammonia is zero? A constant reading of .15 isn't good.


Wish I could offer more suggestions. I'm sorry your pandas aren't doing well - they are wonderful fish.

 

[coralbandit]

I highly doubt this is a substrate problem.
Genus Corydoras: general notes | The Skeptical Aquarist
^Good read^

 

[Delapool]

Nice read!

 

[PoppaRyno]

Use prime. A capful on the whole tank after a big WC. The ammonia levels should be zero. Doesn't matter the tap readings. Do this for a few Wc's and you should be good.

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[fishychick]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna lose another panda today. He's swimming all weird, upside down and sideways and twitching and floating around. Sucks. I need to figure this out. On way to have lfs test my water. Maybe I am missing something. I'll try an extra cap of Prime to help that small amount ammonia.


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[coralbandit]

Check into what your gh is.

 

[fishychick]

Check into what your gh is.

Will do. I'm not really familiar with gh. Could that really cause so much havoc in my tank?


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[fishychick]

Guy at lfs tested my water for EVERYthing and said all was good. My PH runs a little high but we've known that all along due to water in the area. But, here's a thought. I don't change my filter cartridges very often. Hardly ever. I rinse them in tank water and and try to hold onto them until they are falling apart. But I totally forgot that since my filter is a Penguin 150 Bio wheel, most of my bb is in the wheel, right? And the carbon is in the cartridge....which I'm never changing, so the carbon is probably wearing out? Could this be the problem??? Or is it wishful thinking that's problem could be this simple?


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