Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Panda Cory Show had an unexpected and tragic plot twist this past week. Panda cory fry do not like to be too warm. Last Thursday, the temperature hit ~85F here. Though my tank is not in direct sun, and I had the windows open and the curtains closed, the house still got hot. Emma and I were out and about, doing errands, and when we got home I noticed that the temperature of the aquarium was 80F. Eek! I have the heater set so it doesn't go below about 71F. I immediately turned off the light and removed the hood, but it wasn't enough. The adult fish were fine, in fact they probably prefer it warmer than I normally keep it. I'm just trying to save a bit of electricity, and the fish seem fine. However, 80F was just too hot for the fry.



One brave and lonely baby left. I took his little tub out of the main tank, and he's now living on the counter next to the tank, and seems to be doing OK. Still looking active and swimming. I think this was the last one to hatch, since he still had a tiny bit of yolk sac left on Thursday, so maybe that worked in his favor. So sad. I hope this little guy makes it.

On a happier note, the microworms seem to be working out well. The cultures are well established now, and I've been feeding them to the baby. I think he's eating them- at least he's very active and has grown. He's nearly 3/8" long- the end of his tail is so transparent that it didn't show up very well in the picture. He actually looks better than any of the others that got to this age (10 days old now). I think the others just weren't eating enough. I should have gotten the worms sooner. Racked with guilt now, yes I am.

8 comments:

Liz said...

Oh noooo! Fried fry. :(

I am so bummed. At least there's still one fry left. Are the adults still in baby-making mode?

Jackie said...

"Fried fry" ... snort

Now you know what to do should your panda cory get frisky again.

Hannah said...

They are so tiny!

froggiemeanie said...

Awwwwwww, that's bad news. Sorry to hear it. No need to be wracked with guilt. Who knew they didn't like it warm? You have to name the lone survivor Nemo now.

PJ said...

...this is just too sad :(
wow, what a wonderful birding day you had in previous post :)

cyndy said...

oh no...they are so fragile...

Suz said...

Aww, I'm sorry you lost your fry. Go little survivor, go!

At least the one made it, and you've learned a bunch about rearing them, so you'll be better armed if your Panda Cories "get busy" again.

Leigh said...

Aw, this is sad but please don't feel badly. It is a hard lesson learned. There's no guarantees the others would have made it anyway. Hopefully your lone little guy will do fine.