All About Panda Corydoras
- Mar 05, 2023
- Anshika Mishra
- 363 0 0
Some fishes have well-deserved popularity, and perhaps none more so than the Panda Corydoras. Often referred to as either Panda Cory or simply Pandas. These charming little catfishes are ideal for community tanks. They have a quality of being so very gentle that they can be kept with the smallest of other fishes. They only grow to a small size and not fussy about their diet or their tank requirements.
Named after their white and black coloration, Pandas hail from Peru. They inhabit black, slow-flowing, often really poorly oxygenated waters in huge schools with hundreds and hundreds of inhabitants.
However, they do not need black water to thrive. Cleaner water with neutral pH (6-8) will be absolutely fine for them.
They are perfectly happy in a slightly cooler temperature range of about 20-25C.
Schooling Fishes
One factor that you need to take into consideration before buying them is their need to be sociable. They're like Corydoras catfish. They really do much better with a group of their own kind rather than kept as individuals.
As a minimum, you should be looking at keeping 4-5 fish and preferably more if you have the space. And because of this, while they are quite small, they're not really suitable for nano tanks. At a minimum, you should be looking to provide your school with an area of at least 30-80 cm.
As bottom dwellers, Corys can only use one layer of the tank. So it needs to be comparatively bigger compared to the size of fish if they are able to go and use multiple layers if they can swim at the surface.
But because they can only use one layer, it should be able to satisfy all of their space requirements.
Pandas will happily school with other Corydoras species if they have the chance, although that should not be a substitute for socializing with their own kind. They are like the neighbors that you've always wanted.
They will be happy if the other fish is not aggressive or late enough to eat the pandas. They also do not have any interest in hunting for fry but will take eggs if they find them.
Food
Pandas will eat any food that falls through at the bottom, ensuring it doesn't have a chance to break down and decay and ultimately keep the water cleaner.
Feeding your Pandas is both easy and difficult. They are an omnivore species, so they'll happily forge on anything that falls to the bottom of the tank. They'll take small pellets, flakes, blood worms, brine shrimps, you name it.
Tank Setup
Pandas like hiding space; it can be live plants, fake plants, driftwood, or anything else as long as they can get underneath it.
Just be vary, though; just like all Corydoras, Pandas will have a very strong dart reflex if they're startled. Therefore, don't use rocks with narrow holes the fish might try to dart through.
Breeding
Breeding pandas is not difficult, but it does take patience. More often than not, shops will only sell very young Corys, so you'll have to wait for months before you have the opportunity. The females can be induced into spawning by a 50% cool water change, and then after mating, they'll deposit their eggs around the tank for you to collect and grow on.
In Conclusion
Overall, Pandas are a quintessential Corydoras catfish. They have the looks, gentle temperaments, and easy-to-keep qualities.
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