Panda Corys

[pandalove81]

Hello. So I have a 12 gallon Eclipse System tank with 6 adult pandas. It is cycled(i have api test kit and cycled a betta tank previously,so yup its cycled!),everything at 0. About 74 degrees. My tap water is on the soft side,kh is very low,and ph tends to swing alot. I have lost several bettas due to the ph swings,but not one adult panda.

Two months ago,I noticed a baby panda. Quite adorable! He seemed to be doing just fine. Interacting with the big guys. Slowly growing. Until last night. I found him half eaten. So I am not sure what happened to him.

I did a wc on their tank a lil while ago,took out the plants and decorations to do a head count on them. I kept counting only 5 adults so I was paranoid. Luckily I found all 6. Plus 4 babies! One seems bigger than the other 3,but its coloring is off. So I dont know if he will make it or not. Two are quite small,but not tadpole size (like 2nd baby was when I found him when transferring everyone to the 12 gallon tank). The 4th is somewhere in between that.

So I guess I am looking any advice on somehow keeping at least some fry alive? They spawned all on their own.

[apistomaster]

You have your tank set up in an almost text book perfect way for breeding Corydoras panda. Your water chemistry and temperature are just right.
Just remove the Betta. It is predatory enough to hunt down, kill and eat the newly hatched Panda Corys.
You have some options which will allow you to keep and breed a colony of C. panda and also keep some other fish.
One of the best tank mates you could choose to add would be a school of 5-8 Celestial Pearl Danios(CPD). They too will breed and enough of the fry will survive to slowly add to your original school. They eat a few of their own eggs and the Corys will eat a few too.
But overall, in the long run, you will have enough surviving fry of Celestial Pearl Danios and Panda Corys that at some point you may have enough to spare and use to trade for some fish food or what ever at your local fish shop. I have a friend who has the same aquarium and he is raising CPD along with some dwarf Corydoras I gave him, Corydoras habrosus, in the same tank as yours.
You have to set up breeding tanks for each species if you want to raise them in larger numbers but this combination results in a self-sustaining colonies of two attractive species with no extra effort on your part which will produce a few extra fish to spare.
.

[pandalove81]

Thanks for the reply. Well now I know why they are spawning then lol. Didnt realize it was perfect for that. I do have one of the adults going tail up now though. Should have fasted everyone,but didnt notice till after I fed them. Think it will be okay? Looks like it is having trouble staying down. Its not floating up to the top or anything,but is desperately trying to stay at the bottom. None of the others are having issues like that. Would just fasting everyone for a couple days help that one out?

[apistomaster]

The Cory acting strange may just be dying for no particularly good reason. I would continue with your normal routine, including feeding, and just see whether or not the one fish improves or gets used as fertilizer. Rarely, trapped gas in the gut may temporarily disturb their equilibrium but most of the time it is a prelude to death.