I found all 3 of my panda corys lying on their sides this morning They still have gill movements so I'm positive they're still alive but they are not moving.They are in a 40 gallon tank with my 2 frys.I've had them for 7 months without problems and now this. ammonia,nitrite 0,nitrate between 20~40.Any help greatly appreciated...

panda corys must be the most sensitive of their species. I'm wondering if maybe theres been a buid up of gas under the gravel and its leaking through? Is there enough oxygen pumping around the tank as well. Sorry i cant think of anything else. Hope they recover for you.

Thanks Sandy for your reply Unfortunately,we were out all day and we just got back now.I think they're dead now I see no more movement.They still look pretty healthy though....

The tank is barebottom and has a bubble wall at the back and I just added an extra airstone a couple of days ago.My frys were acting weird sitting at the bottom so I added a 0.2% salt I think 5 days ago.Could it be the salt? Thanks!

Cathy,So sorry to hear about your Panda's. In my opinion,they seem to be one of the most sensitive Cory's. They are still to this day,one of my favorites. I have found them to be quite sensitive to any Parameter changes-no matter how small they are.They need extremely clean tank bottoms-which if you had the tank bare bottom,that should have been okay.WHat were your water Params?I can only guess and wonder about your PH,or your Nitrates.

Thank you Devs...I appreciate your help

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate between 20~40
PH 7.9

I do water changes once a week or every 4 days depending on how high the nitrate is.Tanks been bare bottom for 3 months now.I really feel bad I didn't see it coming.They were happily exploring the tank last night and now this

I just checked on them and they are still moving.It looks like they are trying to get up but can't,if that makes sense What should I do?

I own ALOT of different Cories.With all of them,I seem to have lost more Panda's than any other type. In fact,they're the only type I've ever lost.Seems when I keep them-they are more sensitive to Nitrates/Temp changes/and PH. My Cories seem to fare better with the Ph at at lower range. I think I have 4 of them now,but I can't tell you how many I've lost. That sucks too because I've always wanted to breed them,and can't keep enough of them to do it. What temps do you keep them at?If I recall correctly,Panda's tend to like a little warmer temp than your average Cory.Mine seem to be happiest around a ph of about 7 too,which makes it really hard for me because it has become a snail tank-which of course-needs the higher PH. I noticed since I've been keeping the ph higher,that the cory's that bred before,don't seem to do it as much as they use to. I think I need another tank.......*sighs**** With all three of them acting strange,I can't help but wonder if it's something in your water-whether it be metals/etc..As for water changes,my cory's love them-but you reaaly have to keep the temps evenly matched.

I have always been very careful with the water params,always temp match since I have them with my frys but never thought about Ph.Once when they were in a 10 gallon tank,the Ph was 8.1,now it's stable at 7.9.The water temp now is around 28~30*C(mid-summer)I use frozen water bottles when it raises to 30*.When I first got them around January,the water temp was stable at 22*C.Is there anything else I can do to save them?

Cathy,did you find your Cory's acting this way after you salted the tank? Although some people have been known to have no problems with Cory's & salt,the general consensus is that Cory's aren't salt lover's.I don't salt any tanks that hold cory's.Are they showing any other symptoms at all?

Please take the salt out by doing small water changes. corys dont tolerate any salt.
hope its not too late!!

No other symptoms just lying on their sides.They were acting fine even after I put the salt in and that was 5 days ago if I'm not mistaken....what have I done?



will change the water right now.....I hope they survive

I have a 5 gallon shrimp tank,would it be a good idea if I put them in there?

I wouldnt put them straight from salt to clean water, just do small water changes of 25% every couple of hours to slowly bring the salt to 0. Then every day do 40% for a couple of days to make sure its all gone.

Thank you Sandy....I did a water change last night but I woke up this morning with 2 dead corys The other one I can't find

Everything was perfect until I put salt in there.....I feel so bad...I loved those guys Thank you for all the help.I appreciate it!

Please dont be too hard on yourself, you didnt know. Hope you get some more

Thanks Sandy

Good news,I found the other one and he's alive and good.I'm preparing for another water change right now.I really want to save him no matter what

So sorry about your buddies Cathy. I'm glad the last little one made it.Has he been acting better since you started the water changes?Like I said earlier,Panda's seem like the most sensitive Cory I've had yet.I have four that's lived for quite a while now,but I won't tell you how many I lost to get those 4.Of course that was many years ago.I probably have close to 50 cory's or so now.

Thanks Devs

After I changed the water last night,they started to move more and I thought they were gonna make it.The ones that died are smaller than this one so maybe that's one reason why they didn't survive The one that survived is doing good but tends to hide when I get close the tank.I sure hope he makes it!One more thing,I've read that corys do well in groups,will he be okay alone?



Wow!50 corys sounds a lot to me.You must be very good in taking care of them I know you have successfully bred them and you must be very proud of them!I wish I had more because I love these guys...they are so cute and very active.It must be fun watching all your corys

I'm so sorry about your corys, Cathy. Panda corys are such cute fish.

Thanks Anette

This just came as a surprise....if only I didn't put salt in there

I am so sorry that you lost your corys. Please try not to be too hard on yourself; you made a mistake, and these things unfortunately happen. You obviously love your fish very much and are a great fish owner

I bought a group of four peppered corys 12 years ago. Two died around the 8 year mark, and one died last spring. The last one lived alone for several months until I bought a group of young corys. He did perk up when I put the youngsters in with him. He is now happily sharing a tank with three young peppered corys and two bronze corys.

So, I would say that it would be good to get more corys to share the tank with your one survivor. You don't have to do it right away, but they do seem happier and he will probably be more "friendly" with other corys in the tank since he will feel more secure in a group.

BTW, you don't have to add only pandas. You could get bronze (aeneus) or peppered (paleatus) corys. These little guys are very hardy.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Thank you touchofsky for your kind words I appreciate it

We were at our LFS yesterday and I was so tempted to get some more pandas but decided against it.I can't risk any of them dying again since everyone says they're sensitive.I may not be able to give them proper care.I looked at some other corys and they had so many that caught my eyes.I wasn't sure if I can put different breeds in one tank so I then again decided not to buy any.It's good to know that it's okay to mix different types of corys I may go back there today and see if they have peppered corys!Thanks for the advice

Their first choice would definately be hanging out with their own species.If there are not others,then they'll hangout with what-ever cory's that they can find.I have one spotted Cory that's different from every other one. I bought him quite a few years ago because he was the only one in the tank,and I felt bad for him.Til this day,I've never come across any other spotted Cory's that look exactly like him. He does hang out with everyone else, though I do still continue to search....

Thanks Devs Sad thing is I can't find the lone survivor I tried searching the whole tank but he is nowhere to find....very strange thing to happen!I think I'm gonna let things be the way they are and not to get anymore corys at the time.Maybe someday...

I'm sorry to hear the last survivor seems to have gone missing

Thank you...

Aww...that's too bad. I'm so sorry.

yes...I was hoping he'd make it Thanks for all the help.

Sorry to hear about your Panda Corys! I made a salt mistake, too - I put the salted water I prepared for the goldfish (20 TBSP) into the Betta tank the other night ! I didn't realize it for two hours! And the little guy was already sick! I have no idea why he did not die on the spot - like salt on a slug - because that's how mcuh salt was in there. He survived me this time... but I have got to get better at this soon.

Have you found the missing one yet? THat MIA Syndrome is the worst of all becuase how can they vanish like that?! Hopefully, he is just really hiding well.

Thanks Graham

It's great to hear that your betta is doing fine...good thing you realized it in time before it was too late.My pandas were in salt water for 5 days

I never found the missing panda which is really strange....I wonder if it died and the frys ate it........