Hi everyone! I just joined here but it looks like a nice forum.
I bought some panda cories a few days ago and last night I noticed one of them "flashing" against the gravel. No white spots visible, but I'm going to keep an eye on it. If it turns out that the cory has ich, what do you think is the best way to treat it since I've read that panda cories can be "sensitive"?
Do you feel that pandas are sensitive fish in general, or is it just that the super-hardy bronze cories make them seem sensitive in comparison?
Thanks for any advice.
Last edited by pandacory on 19 Sep 2006, 18:50, edited 2 times in total.
First of all, flashing can be caused by MANY different things, including fairly normal itching - just like right now I feel an urge to scratch the top of my head, doesn't mean that I have some illness...
It can also be an indication of poor water quality, which is a known stress-factor. If you have a test-kit for water, you can test it yourself. If not, you can take a water-sample to your LFS and they will do it for you. It's best if you can get the actual numbers for Nitrate (NO3), Nitrite (NO2) and Ammonia (NH3/NH4), as what the shop says is "OK" doesn't necessarily say much about it other than that... If you tell us here that you've got X Nitrate, Y Nitrite and Z Ammonia, we can not only tell if that's good, bad or inbetween, but also see how well matured your tank is. [And poor water quality isn't necessarily because of something you've done wrong, but rather that the tank isn't mature enough yet - if it's recently been set up, that is].
As to the "sensitive" - all fish are sensitive to the wrong thing, but from what I've read [haven't kept them myself], most cories are pretty "robust" in general. However, some Ich medication is unhealthy for "scale-less" fish, a group which all catfish belong to - the "scales" you see on a cory is actually bony scutes which is not SCALES, but bone under the skind of the fish. There's been LOTS written about Ich/Ick on this site, so if you do a forum search, I'm pretty sure you'll quickly find some "non-medicated" versions of cure.
The term 'Ich' or 'Ick' can be a little confusing, as many people think of it as being an itch, but it is in fact an abbreviation for the scientific name of the white spot parasite Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. The parasite may very well cause some itching, especially if it has infected the gills, but you will see evidence of it, as its common name would suggest in the form of tiny white spots. However Corys are not normally susceptible to this parasite, but if it does it is usually confined to the fins as the body scutes prevent the parasite from gaining any nourishment. It usually manifests after a sudden temperature drop causing the dormant white spot spores to become active, combine this with the stress caused to fish like tetras and barbs an outbreak can appear very quickly.
Like MatsP said it could be a water condition causing the fish to scratch or there could also be another parasite involved such as gill flukes. If your fish is tank or commercially bred it is unlikely to be this.
I've had Corys in tanks with white spot before, but the Corys have never been attacked by the disease. Only the other fish.
Scratching against objects in the tank or on the gravel may suggest that something is irritating their skin or itching. I've noticed this behavior when there are lots of tiny, tiny airbubbles in the water (from an air diffusor or from fresh tap water after a very recent water change). It seems like the tiny air bubbles irritates their skin, so I never use those air diffusors in my cory tanks.
As other suggests here it could be poor water quality as well.
I firmly believe that as long as the water source is good it never hurts with a water change;) Often it's all that's needed when the fish behaves a little bit odd or something is "just not quite right" so you suspect something.
