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I have a trio a pandas. One seems fine but two of them swim off away from the front of the tank, whenever anyone comes near the tank. They've been in since saturday, do they just need time to adjust ?

The problem with small cories is that the smaller they are, the more they seem to need bigger groups. Trust me... if you have four or more pandas, you will have pandas that are SO much happier!

I had a group of three that acted just as you mentioned... when I got four together, they made SUCH a happy group. However, a group of 6-8 or more would certainly be your best bet. Just ask Calilasseia... he's had his pandas spawn something like 76 times in two years!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Mine still get scared (after 2 months now), but this is mostly if I move my head around a lot looking at them. If I don't move around too much they're fine.

This is in start contrast to my Platies who race to the front when they see me! I'd love to think that they are excited to see me, but I'm fairly sure it's more the fact that I'm the 'feeding head'.

Trust me. Wait till you get 8. Then you'll be treated to ceaseless comedy entertainment all day long

Pandas (and for that matter all the smaller Corydoras species) are (to use that well worn phrase of mine) more avowedly social than the larger Corydoras, which still need a group to feel secure, but are less likely to exhibit shyness or skittishness if you have to acquire your shoal piecemeal because your chosen species is expensive. With Pandas, you should be looking at 4 as a bare minimum number, and preferably 8. Anything over 8 and your aquarium becomes a comedy madhouse that will have you rolling on the floor giggling fit to bust at their antics!

Oh, and mine have now spawned (as of April 20th, 2005) a total of 78 times (that's Mata Hari and her suitors). The last four spawnings were dated 03/04/2005, 06/04/2005, 10/04/2005 and 16/04/2005.

Basically, put them in a well-furnished aquarium, with scrupulous attention to cleanliness, and you too could experience spawning mayhem of this kind. However, be advised that the fry are difficult to raise. Fry need very clean water, and cooler than average temperatures. This article of mine (oh come on, I had to deliver the shameless plug, didn't I? ) will tell you all you need to know.

I'm planning to upgrade the Panda Fun Palace™ to a 4ft version in the near future, funds allowing of course. Then I'm going to put a minimum of 16 Pandas in there. Then I anticipate utter lunacy breaking out among the gang



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Do you thing they will get better over time ?

If you increase the numbers, certainly. Small groups tend to be a bit shy because they genuinely need the security of decent numbers before their extrovert natures fully blossom, so to speak. The huge difference between my crowd from when I had 4, and when I added 4 more to bring the total to 8, was considerable to put it mildly


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002