gd007
Aquarium Advice Activist
Hello - this morning I found 1 of my 7 Panda Cory's dead, near the surface, among a small amount of water lettuce.
I have attached a few images of the Panda Cory as well as my water results from this morning. This is how I interpret them:
pH: 7.4
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 30-40 (there is orange and some red)
I have a 55 gal, freshwater, with 6 Panda Corys, 5 Boesemani Rainbows (2M:3F), 6 female Guppys, a small amount of ghost shrimp, and some MT snails inherited from the live plants. Substrate is pebble gravel and I have one driftwood in the center. No overly sharp edges.
The tank is rather new - I did fishless cycling for ~4 weeks (Thanksgiving through XMas, approx). Fish were acclimated last Friday (12/20) and then a few more Sunday (12/22). Not sure which batch this Panda came from. I did lose a few fish in the beginning (2 Boesemani & 1 Panda in ~72hrs; then another Boesemani at ~96 hours; then a guppy Wednesday) however none had these red spots. I replaced the first few that died, to keep ratios +1, then when the last boesemani passed I did not. The guppy was part of the Sunday addition. This left me with:
5 boesemani (had been 6)
6 guppies (had been 7)
7 pandas
I did a 40% water change on Wednesday (after guppy died, nitrate was only ~30, all else zeros) and I use API Tap Water Conditioner (Super Strength). I add it as I add my water and only add enough for the replacement water, not the whole tank volume. I also use a cap of Flourish Excel once every few days.
I did a bit of research before posting here and most go to the nitrate level and that these Panda are sensitive. OK. Is that what I have here? I also see that people speak the world of Prime as a water conditioner versus other products. OK - I'll get some of that later today and switch.
Aside from those above items - I couldn't gleam much more from other posts on the internet. Did I miss anything? Do my images, and above detail, reveal anything else to be concerned with? Any other ideas?
I think I covered all the bases.
Thank you for reading and I welcome your thoughts.
-GD007
I have attached a few images of the Panda Cory as well as my water results from this morning. This is how I interpret them:
pH: 7.4
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 30-40 (there is orange and some red)
I have a 55 gal, freshwater, with 6 Panda Corys, 5 Boesemani Rainbows (2M:3F), 6 female Guppys, a small amount of ghost shrimp, and some MT snails inherited from the live plants. Substrate is pebble gravel and I have one driftwood in the center. No overly sharp edges.
The tank is rather new - I did fishless cycling for ~4 weeks (Thanksgiving through XMas, approx). Fish were acclimated last Friday (12/20) and then a few more Sunday (12/22). Not sure which batch this Panda came from. I did lose a few fish in the beginning (2 Boesemani & 1 Panda in ~72hrs; then another Boesemani at ~96 hours; then a guppy Wednesday) however none had these red spots. I replaced the first few that died, to keep ratios +1, then when the last boesemani passed I did not. The guppy was part of the Sunday addition. This left me with:
5 boesemani (had been 6)
6 guppies (had been 7)
7 pandas
I did a 40% water change on Wednesday (after guppy died, nitrate was only ~30, all else zeros) and I use API Tap Water Conditioner (Super Strength). I add it as I add my water and only add enough for the replacement water, not the whole tank volume. I also use a cap of Flourish Excel once every few days.
I did a bit of research before posting here and most go to the nitrate level and that these Panda are sensitive. OK. Is that what I have here? I also see that people speak the world of Prime as a water conditioner versus other products. OK - I'll get some of that later today and switch.
Aside from those above items - I couldn't gleam much more from other posts on the internet. Did I miss anything? Do my images, and above detail, reveal anything else to be concerned with? Any other ideas?
I think I covered all the bases.
Thank you for reading and I welcome your thoughts.
-GD007