Flourite Black Sand and Corys

[echoofformless]

After having a bad experience with corys and Tahitian Moon Sand, I'm cautioning the fiancee about the Flourite black sand until some of you can tell me you've been okay with it being safe for cory barbels.

Anyone?

[tanker]

I have black sand with corys. Not the large "pebble like" ones in a bag, but the kind you buy at the LFS by the pound. It is finer then normal gravel, but not quite like sand.

[Lupin]

It's not just the substrate. High nitrate is also responsible for the barbel disintegration.

[lorindaleigh]

Crap! I just ordered eco-complete like 5 minutes ago and then come to the forum and read this. Is eco-complete cory safe?

[zzyzx85]

should be fine. a lot of people use eco-complete with cories and have no problems with it. I believe msj is one who keeps the combo with no problems.

I've kept my corys with regular Flourite with no problems. Mine are currently in large river gravel/play sand/Flourite mix and all still have their barbels.

[tanker]

Crap! I just ordered eco-complete like 5 minutes ago and then come to the forum and read this. Is eco-complete cory safe?

PS--My black sand is over my ECO (ECO on the bottom with 1inch of black sand over it).

[gmcb]

Good timing on this discussion. I have sand in my tank and the water is always too murky. I'd like to switch out to something a little heavier but didn't want to cause damage to my cories' barbels. Can I use a small/mid size gravel that is sold in LFS? Someone also recommended, on another forum, a heavier sand.

[abcdefghi]

Good timing on this discussion. I have sand in my tank and the water is always too murky. I'd like to switch out to something a little heavier but didn't want to cause damage to my cories' barbels. Can I use a small/mid size gravel that is sold in LFS? Someone also recommended, on another forum, a heavier sand.

I had a similar problem with sand, kept getting sucked into my filter. I switched to gravel for a while, but then switched out for Turface. It is smooth enough that the cories are not bothered by it, but it is also heavy enough not to be kicked around. It also has the bonus of being cheap, I think I paid $35 for 100lb of it.

[donkeyrider]

Where did you buy the Turface? I haven't seen it at any of my local home improvement stores.

[gmcb]

100 pounds! What will I do with all of it! :) Thanks for the feedback. I'll check it out.

[abcdefghi]

Where did you buy the Turface? I haven't seen it at any of my local home improvement stores.

I found it at a Lesco dealer about 5 minutes away from where I work. See if they have a store near you... http://www.lesco.com/prodcatalog/storefinder.aspx

I bought 100lb thinking I would need all of it (planted 55G) as I had about 100lb of playsand in the tank. The Turface is larger grain size, so I could have easily gotten away with only buying 50lb.

[chesterthehero]

i use regular fluorite with cories and they have beautiful barbels.

inkyjenn

[donkeyrider]

Thanks, none of the Lesco dealers are near me, but it gave me some ideas. I will check around with the John Deer dealers and tractor supply stores to see if they carry it.

[abcdefghi]

Thanks, none of the Lesco dealers are near me, but it gave me some ideas. I will check around with the John Deer dealers and tractor supply stores to see if they carry it.

Not sure where you are, but also try the dealer search here http://www.profileproducts.com/corporate/wheretobuy/

Also, if you do end up with Turface make sure you thoroughly rinse it. I thought I did a good job of rinsing, until my tank ended up a murky mess. It cleared up nicely though in a couple days.

[jpappy789]

Interesting. I used the Tahitian sand with brigs...I would assume that if it's okay for a snails "foot" than barbels should be fine as well.

[echoofformless]

The charcoal colored Turface/Soilmaster needed crazy rinsing, but the red stuff needed next to none.

Neither of them were fully satisfactory to me though. Not dense enough to keep a good weight under the water for plant roots. I ended up switching off to sand after a few months and haven't looked back.

[abcdefghi]

The charcoal colored Turface/Soilmaster needed crazy rinsing, but the red stuff needed next to none.

Neither of them were fully satisfactory to me though. Not dense enough to keep a good weight under the water for plant roots. I ended up switching off to sand after a few months and haven't looked back.

I am having much the opposite, I have the red colored stuff and needed to rinse it for ages.

I also find its good to keep plants down, the first few days were a pain, but after that its been great. My plants seem to be growing faster in it as well than when I had them in gravel / play sand.

[DoctaQ]

i have fluorite black sand with my dwarf cories and my one albino cory, they all seem pretty good, they routinely dig in the sand for food when they smell it and thier faces seem fine. i did rinse it for ages with a hose and a sewer drain haha dont tell the cops.