Need advice on my panda corys

[Aquagirl]

Hi,

I'm a newbie on tropical fishkeeping and would like some advice about the behaviour of my fish. I have recently set up a 10gal tank into which I initially added 4 neon tetras then, after a week, a small plecostomus, then just yesterday added a couple of small panda corys.

Here's my questions:
* Do panda corys eat shrimp pellets? They pretty much ignored the 2 pellets I put into the tank this morning. (BTW, the neons end up not eating a lot of what I feed them, so there's still some food leftover on the gravel from previous feedings.) Anyone else seen this kind of behaviour? Should I even bother giving them the shrimp pellets? (The neons don't eat the pellets.)

* My neons were actively swimming around the tank before I added the corys. Now they just stay on the opposite side of the aquarium, hiding behind one of the decors. Is this normal??

Thanks in advance!

[Barbie]

Aquagirl whatever lfs sold you all those fish for a new, uncycled tank should be put on the list of places not to shop.

HERE is a link to articles on cycling your aquarium. Basically your fish put off waste that is toxic to them until a bacteria colony gets established in your filter to digest the waste the fish put off and convert it to the end product of nitrate, which is easily removed with partial water changes.

Do NOT continue feeding your fish more than they will completely consume in 30 seconds, once every other day, until your tank has finished this crucial period. You are literally killing your fish with kindness.

I would personally recommend carefully siphoning out any uneaten food and changing 30% of the volume of the tank. If you can find it, BioSpira is a product that I had good luck with when I moved and had to set up tanks to hold my fish on short notice. If you know someone with an established aquarium, rinsing out their filter media in your tank can help jumpstart the process.

Good luck. Seriously, read those articles, or your fish are going to have a rough go of it.

Barbie

[Viking Bear]

I have several questions to ask you. How many days have you had fish in the tank? It take 39 days for a tank to completely cycle. I will assume this is a new tank and has yet to cycle. My Panda seem to like shrimp pellet but you fish might have been exposed to them. Remember that a pellet hold more food than a pink of flake food. If they have eaten the you might want to siphon out of the gravel. You want to feed very sparely during the first month.

First of all, a ten gallon tank is hard to keep stable when compared to larger tanks. The behaviour you descrive might be ammonia build up which is normal for a new tank. You can use ammo-lock to protect your fish from the affects of ammonia.You can buy a test kit for around $5 (U.S.).

There are several ways to shorting the cycle time. If you have a friend with a established tank. Get of bucket of dirty water from the gravel. You will innoculate the tank with all the bacteria needed to cycle the tank in days. When I set a new tank. I use water from another tank use a dirty filter from another tank. You can trade dirty filter with another fish keeper. Move a sponge filter from another tank.

If your tank turns cloudy don't panic. You have bacteria bloom and your tank is almost cycle.

Neon and panda like to live in groups. I would wait until your tank has cycle before adding any more fish. Both would prefer groups of six or more.

Panda are small cories. When you say small what size do you mean? less than an inch, 1 inch, 2 inches? I am trying to judge the load on your tank. Panda are not the toughtest fish to cycle a tank. When I have raised fry they are the first to die compared to paleatus or aenus.

Pandas are one of my favorite cories.

Good Luck,

Scott

[Aquagirl]

I initially set up the tank (i.e. water, filter, gravel, decor) at the beginning of this month. Added a couple of plants within the first week. Then after the first week, I added the 4 tetras (the first occupants). I've done weekly water changes since I started adding fish into the aquarium. I also test my water before adding any new fish. I had low ammonia but slightly elevated nitrite levels during the last test.

Yes, I don't think I'll add any more new fish until the N2 cycle is complete. The last and only other fish I am thinking of adding is a male betta (which, from what I've read, is generally compatible w/ my current fish). Any opinions/experience on that?

The panda cories are both ~1" TL.

Thanks for the advice. Will keep it in mind not to overfeed.

[Allan]

Hi Aquagirl

Seems like you are pretty much in control of the situation.

I guess the tetras are just shy after you puzzled around the aquarium adding new fish. A larger school will eventually make them feel more safe. Same goes for the cories, tank your size I say a school of 5-7 is suitable

If I was you I would try some frozen foods in stead of the schrimp-pellets. My cories are not fund of freeze-dried diets. Try frozen bloodworm, dafnia, cyclops, artemia... list is long. Bloodworm is most common, and a good treat for cories and your other fish.

About the Betta, it's not the worst thing to put in the tank, and yes i think they will get along fine, but imo the fish is to much out of biotope. You now have a nice tank with south americans that all like a medium-fast current. I would not ad a Betta, that does not like to much watermovement.

Kr
Allan

[Yann]

Hi!

First of all, welcome to the forum...

Nitrites are really killer for fish especially when their presence is at a high level, their presence is totally normal after a week. I would check regulary the level to see how it evolute. If you have someone who can house your fish during the rest of the cycle that would be way safer....

You said you also have a plecostomus, be careful these fish grow large and it will grow way too big for your tank so you shall bring it back to the shop. Eventually one Ancistrus could work but I would rather go with 4 little otocinclus.

Cheers
Yann