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I was thinking of having a planted 10 gallon with a betta boy and some panda corys...my original plan was hasbrosus cories but none of them lfs came thru i guess . So now i want to know how many cories i could actually fit in here with my betta. With regular maintenance and plants i know i could put atleast 6. How many do you think recomend?

Six or seven would be fine. They won't take up much space, and the betta would most likely ignore them. More would probably fit in there, but I'd stick with seven, max. It is nice to have a little room for error, don't you agree?

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Of course, especially since the place that has them is charging 6 bucks each...i don't know i really wanted hasbrosus but they are nowhere to be found here.

Get the Pandas. And have FUN ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

According to the profile on this site it says i must do regular gravel vacs. My tank is gonna be planted and would be extremely tough to gravel vac well and not cut roots. So I'm not sure now.

My Panda Fun Palace™ is a veritable forest, but I still manage to gravel vac it !!!

You just have to be careful how hard you push ...

The main hazard I have to face is inquisitive Pandas following the dratted gravel vac around while I'm cleaning the gunk ...

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

What makes pandas more sensitive to the mulm then other corys? I don't really feel like taking the mulm from the plants.

You don't have to take mulm from around the plant roots, because the plants will help convert it into more leaf tissue. But Pandas don't like excessively gunky gravel beds, so you should strive to remove ecess mulm from between the plants if you can. Which is what I do. And, because I do it so often, around twice a week, the Pandas follow the gravel vac around looking for tasty titbits they missed first time round because what little uneaten food gets left by them (and the snails!) doesn't have chance to rot much. The mulm around the plants, on the other hand, is left relatively untouched, and still provides them with nutrients. If the growth spurt my Amazon Sword is putting on at the moment is anything to go by, I'm doing things right!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

What size tank do you have though? I am planted a 10 gallon their probly wont be much space to put a vac in between the plants thats the problem im seeing. Nontheless i can always just vac the open front i have plan on having, i'm undecided on decorations though is there anything they prefer?

Mine's 24" x 12" x 12". So it does have some room for manouevre. But I have a substantial bogwood arch in there, and a bogwood 'boot' (I call it that because it's shaped just like an old boot, complete with lots of nice holes for caves!). Plus, the breeding aquarium housing my 2nd and 3rd generation Pandas is a veritable forest right now: big 'conceptual art' bogwood piece festooned with Java Moss and Java Ferns, and a big thicket of Water Wisteria. Still gets a gravel vac though!

As for decorations, anything that provides lots of intricate nooks and crannies for the Pandas to explore will do fine. If the way my Pandas are frolicking about as I type this is any indication, thye're quite happy with my underwater Disneyland of bogwood and Java Moss/Java Fern rhizome tangles!


Last edited by Calilasseia at 17-Feb-2005 21:16

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Well i ended up picking up 6 pandas for now, although my betta was being a little pushy he went back to his 2.5 gallon again. So i still do think i have some room what would you suggest to add in with 6 pandas?

Let then settle in first. If that's 10 gal US you won't have a great deal of room for manouevre, but I'm thinking that if you can get Rasbora vaterifloris, the Sri Lanka Fire Barb, then that would make a nice combination. They're lovely fish - here's a link to a German site that hosts a couple of pictures ...

http://www.labyrinthfische.de/html/barblinge.html

Only thing is, they're incredibly rare.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yea i planned on letting them settle in of course...those are nice fish but i assume they are not available anywhere near anywhere since its the first time i seen them. But yea i know 10 us gallon isnt alot of room but with the plants etc. i should not need to worry about nitrates with regular maintenance. Still the tank needs something else still not sure of what.

Hey,

I have two panda cory's in my 2ft tank (waiting for LFS to get some more in). They really like places that they can hide in. I have a little rock cave which they love to hide in. I also have a peice of wood and some hygriphilia polysperma near it, and the one loves to get as far under it as he can and as close to the tangles as well. Sometimes thy even hide under my heater, or any anubias nana leaves. They really are great little things! I love mine, they are really cute to watch. Some of them are so strange, mine rest on each other a lot, or rest on the grass that is growing in my tank. They also like to do this rocking thing. They really are cool lil fish! You will be pleased

Nikki, if you think two are fun, wait till you have 12. 12 Pandas in the same aquarium equals virtually non stop comedy slapstick antics!

As I type this (the Panda Fun Palace is visible over my shoulder from the armchair) the Pandas are ferreting around for food , using the Bacopa as a climbing frame, and one of them is doing a Synoontis impersonation upside down under the bogwood arch ... two more are using the Amazon Swordplant leaves swaying in the current like budgie swings underwater, and another one is food mining in the Java Moss. They are hilarious little fishes to watch at times, and if you have the space to keep a big social group, they are hyperactive and relentlessly comical - you can tell when they're really happy because they let their insatiable curiosity run away with them, and start poking their snouts into all sorts of nooks and crannies, plus if the aquarium is well planted, they spend a fair amount of time in midwater in transit between interesting places to explore. Utterly delightful fishes, I find it hard to contemplate an aquarium without them now ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002