I purchased 3 in number little panda corys from a very good lfs on saturday, all fish in tank were healthy etc and I have have the little guys living in my 5 gallon quarentine tank as a temporary home before they go to live in their big 126 litre home. after the quarentine period.
Thing is, one of the little guys seems to have a barbel missing and I'm fairly sure he wasn't like that yesterday!
He seems happy enough, snuffling round with his pals, but I'm a tad concerned.
Water stats are ammonnia nil, nitrite nil, nitrate 10 [been doing daily water changes, nitrates out of tap 0] and ph 7.2. Tank has been established for approximately 1 month and is fully cyled after a fishless cycle.
It has a smooth volanic rock planted with java moss and another potted plant in there as well as couple of small ornaments designed to provide hiding places and rounded gravel as a substrate.
I have melafix, pimafix and myxazin in my store cupboard just in case. Should I treat with one of those, if so which one?
I've never have this experience before. However, I've read many times over the net that sharp substrate was the cause of this problem. Their barbel acidetnally get's scratched and infection and bacteria sets in and they lose their barbel. That's only the start. Eventually, they did from infection.
Treat your tank with melafix to help with the healing and I think you might want to add some smooth flat surface object for them to rest on.
Mond you, they never seem to stay still! I think I'll nip down to the shore this weekend and see if I can find some nice smooth flat stones for them. [I'll be careful to wash them well first!]
I just love those little guys, cutest things, absolutely great. Sooo in love
It is most unlikely that the barbel loss occurred in the couple of days you have had the fish, I would think that it was missing before. If the rest of its barbels are OK I would not worry unduly, it may never have had a full set. This species is now being bred in their thousands in far-eastern fish farms and there are bound to be a few that have the odd deformity or peculiar trait.
I've tried keeping panda cories a couple of times in the last few years and they never survived beyond a few months. This breed seemed to have become very week as a result of commercial breeding.
The little guy seems quite thin compared to the other 2, but I think he is guy and the other 2 are gals. His barbel is definately shorter on one side,but it doesn't seem to be affecting him, he's quite happily rooting along the gravel with the other 2.
