Help! Panda Cory Pale - Normal When Spawning?

[dhartIndy]

So I just did a water change (about 10% every 4th day) and like clockwork I noticed my two adults have spawned again. Left a clutch of about 6 eggs and still at it.

I noticed they have both gotten pale since yesterday. The male more than the female.


Has anyone ever noticed or come across observations of panda coryd losing color during spawning?
Or should I be concerned it is illness?

Water parameters are:
Nitrates: 0
Nitrites: near 0
Ammonia: 0
pH: 8 (this has been stable since March 2013)


Its a moderately planted 20 gallon long with:
2 adult panda corys
5 fry (ranging from 2-5 weeks)
1 glass shrimp
2 assassin snails
14 month old zebra danio fry

 

[eaglesaquarium]

My pandas have spawned fairly regularly for roughly two years... but pale is not something that I've noticed from them after spawning. 
 
I have had some of them go pale, but that was usually a prelude to death. (Sorry to be so blunt.)
 
The pH is extremely high for corydoras to be truly at their best.  The fact that they are spawning is good, but honestly, I'm not sure how long they can last at that pH.
 
 
Not sure what mine died of with that issue.  They would seem fine one day and dead the next after being pale for a day.  Of course, my pH was very different from yours, roughly 6.5.  And mine also were very inactive with the paleness... yours don't seem to be displaying the same symptoms by any means.

 

[dhartIndy]

Thank you for the insight.
Besides r/o set ups and driftwood, any advice on the pH?

 

[BerryAttack]

you can pH down, which can help you adjust you pH levels; pea moss can usually help; and then there is drift wood which will work well... colour your water sightly in the beginning but will work. usually best to do a pre-soak before had... 
by looking at the cory, do they seem skin? how does the body look, any stress lines? are fins in good condition? do they look full and healthy looking, but besides the colour? what are you feeding them? how often do you feed them? how old are they? (could be old age which could be the reason for the pale look and then maybe shorty after death?)

 

[dhartIndy]

So two hours later both have regained their normal color.
I have relocated a large piece of malaysian driftwood i had in a smaller tank housing my danios along with an additional almond leaf.

Will probably invest in an ro system in the near future for pH more suitable since so many are hatching.

 

[dhartIndy]

The adultd are approximately 6-8 months old.
Full bodied, female a bit larger.
No issues on skin, barbels or fins.

They were in a community tank with danios and got a mix of flake food, algae wafers (they love em), baby brine shrimp and blood worms. Feeding is typically one small meal daily. Very cautious not to overfeed and do gravel siphoning atleast once a week; sometimed twice. Usually i will have one day biweekly of no feeding but that has been postponed since spawning and fry hatching.

Even as I type this they are both acting normally and foraging for scraps.
Black coloring has returned to normal on fins, body and over eyes.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Was it at night that they had the pale color? 

 

[dhartIndy]

It was afternoon, lights were still on.
I usually observe them on a schedule too.
Nothing was out of the ordinary

 

[dhartIndy]

Update: all fish doin fine.
pH: 7.8

Ordering some peat moss granules to make a media bag.
Will start with a small amount, test regularly and readjust.