# Panda Cory- will he school with peppered cories?



## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

Hi All, 

I have 4 cory catfish in my tank right now. 3 of them are peppered cories, 1 panda cory. I'm wondering if, in other's experiences, the peppered cories will "adopt" my panda into their group, and if my panda will be content to swim with them. 

All 4 of my cats are great- the 3 peppers are extremely active and chase each other around, surface swim and dive, they are great fun to watch. My panda will also take part in this, but less frequently. 

I originally got the panda in a pair with another panda for a separate tank, but one of them died 

I moved him into the tank with the peppers because I figured ANY catfish were better than no catfish for him. 

He seems fine, like I said at times he is extremely active and will swim around with the other cats. But he is definitely less active, and will swim alone more often than the other 3 will. 

I'm debating whether to leave them, or to get 2 more pandas and put my 3 pandas in one tank and have leave the peppers in the tank they are in. I wil eventually be restocking my 2nd tank, but it will be a few weeks so I'm weighing my options. 

Catfish experts and/or enthusiasts, I'd like your thoughts on how crucial it is that specific cory species school with the same specific species, or if they just as content mixed with other cats. These were my first pandas and the one died so quickly that I don't know much about their behavior patterns. 

By the way, I have them in 10 gallon planted cycled tank with a mystery snail, and right now those are the only fish I have, my other tank is empty. 

Thanks!


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## MetalArm3 (Jun 22, 2011)

I am not a catfish or Cory expert, but do have experience with keeping them. I have kept bronze cories for about 5 years. In my new tank I have mixed bronze and albino cories (3 bronze and 2 albinos) and they do school together at times. I think long as you keep the same type of species they will school together even if they are of different varieties. Now I don't know if panda cories are of the same species as peppered cories, so hopefully someone else can answer this.

MetalArm3


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

Different species, but they are "congeners" of each other. That simply means they are the same Genus of organism, closely related. From what I have seen and read here, they'll mix schools without an issue.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Being with other corys is better than not, but if possible having several of the same species is preferable. I have found that a group of five or more corys works well, and if more than one species is in the group, having minimum 3 of each species is best. Some species are more interactive within their species than others. My 3 panda in one tank, which also has two other species, are almost always together, rarely apart. I would find another 2 panda if you can.


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## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks Byron. That's what I was leaning towards. I don't think I want to put all 6 cories in 1 10 gallon tank though, as that would be about my stocking limit and I'd love to have some variety. I will probably go 3 and 3 in my 2 tanks, 3 pandas in 1 tank, and 3 peppers in the other.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

tf1265 said:


> Thanks Byron. That's what I was leaning towards. I don't think I want to put all 6 cories in 1 10 gallon tank though, as that would be about my stocking limit and I'd love to have some variety. I will probably go 3 and 3 in my 2 tanks, 3 pandas in 1 tank, and 3 peppers in the other.


That would work. Panda stay fairly small in my experience, so if they are in a 10g alone (no other corys I mean) I would have 4-5.


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