Corydoras panda

Does it looks like Giant Panda ? :)

C. panda is one of the favourite species of hobbyists commonly available in the market. Probably the species that kick-start the Corydoras revolution into the aquarium hobby.

Corydoras panda

Due to their abundance now despite their beauty, they are not as well respected as before. It is well breeded in farms to market demands,  and juveniles are typically on sales before they have a chance to be stronger. Adult sizes range from 4-6 cm in length but is not commonly available.

For New Hobbyists

At this point of their fragile lifes, juvenile death rates can be rather high. Buyer needs to ensure the fishes are healthy such as no broken fins, active and do the basic necessity like acclimatization, and isolation from other corydoras species for about 6 weeks. The tank also has to be cycled ready.

Acclimatization means to minimise large temperature and water ph changes to newly bought fishes which can be significantly different from the tank you intend to release into. This can cause stress and shock to the fish and increase chance of sickness or fatality. Steps to do this is pretty simple. Open the fish bag and add some of the tank water into it, then float the bag on the tank water surface for an hour. Do this 2 more times before finally netting out the fishes into the tank.

Cycled means the tank has gone through the few stages of the bacterial cycles which typically last about a month with a few expandable fishes or snails. The logic behinds is to allow Nitrates eating bacterial to thrive in the tank to support life. I will go into further details next time.

Isolation needed to avoid harmful dieases from spreading to other fishes that you already owned for some time. Tank fish can get wipe out by newly introduce fishes so be aware of the risk if you have expensive fish being kept.

Conventional recommendation is to have a shoal of 6 or more. You will tend to see them swimming happily together exploring and probing from one area to another. Add a little vegetation and drift wood for them to hide. Do not overfeed them. Ensure the water is chlorine and chloramine free.


Cory
5th April 2012