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so i've run into a bit of a problem...

i have three panda cories... i know i need more.. but they're freakin HARD to find...

anywho.. i feed them shrimp pellets... it seems that the shrimp pellets break up before the lil guys find them.. is there a way to feed them the pellets without severly gunking up the bottom of my tank? should i put like.. a plate or something? either way its making my schedule crazy cuz i go nuts when i have a dirty tank, ive been doing twice a week 25% water changes. maybe there's an easier way?

*Chelle*
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I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

If you do gravel vacs with those water changes Chelaine, I wouldn't worry. I do 50% or more changes twice a week with deep gravel vacs. The spawning log for my Pandas testifies amply that they love me for doing it!

As for your shrimp pellets, you could try putting a lead weight on a string and feeding the pellets that way. It won't take long for your Pandas to work out that what you've done is serve them a little banquet just where they can reach it!

I have a feeder of that kind for freeze dried Tubifex worms. It's a lead weight from a fishing tackle suppliers, that consists of a heavy base with four vertical lead gs that I can use to hold the cubes in place while the Corys and the Otocinclus (which also love my freeze dried Tubifex by the way!) chow down on the worms. It also ensures that the fish have to work a little to get individual worms free from the mass so that the cube absorbs some water before the fish take morsels from it, and ensures that their full bellies are filled with properly moistened and expanded food.

From the sides, my lead weight looks like this (crude diagrams coming up):

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---- front on view

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| | | |
------- side on view


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Feed them sinking pellets & then clean the gravel when doing water changes & gravel cleaning.


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thats what ive been doing but i was just thinking there might be a better way?

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

Personally I feed my cory with live blood worms and they chase after them. I feed flake in the morning and what falls they will eat then when I feed the live blood worms I keep them in a little cone like strainer and I will shake it after the top and mid top fish have eaten and it will deposit live worms to the bottom and they relish it. It leaves some blood worms in the gravel alive but its fun to watch them find one and suck it out of the gravel.