Sand and Cories? Possible major injury...

kallio

kallio

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Apr 7, 2009
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Last week I switched my 12 gallon tank from gravel to sand (CaribSea Black Tahitian Moon sand). I was hoping to make a better home for my two cories, yellow shrimp and snails.

I have noticed the cories weren't as active as usual, but barbells seemed just fine. Today I saw that one cory has almost completely lost her belly :( Just pulled her to find it's almost a hole - all tissue seems to have been rubbed away.

Ugh, this just kills me. The cories are may favorite fish. Both have been removed to a temporary holding area with a smooth bottom. All other tanks are gravel and not great for QT (of course, as it happens, new shrimp are in the true QT tank)

To those in the know: any chance that this injury will heal? I'll be honest, it looks pretty bad.

Also - the sand feels rather smooth between my fingers (no sharp edges). I thought it would be best for the cories. Clearly, that's not the case :( Are there any other shrimp safe bottom dwellers who can handle sand?

I just hate that this is happening. Many thanks for any advice.

Cheers - Kalli

* I have only added Stress-coat to the water that the cories are in now
 
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Sand is usually one of the preferred substrate choices for Corydoras- I've had mine for a few months now on sand with no problem.

Now, I use play sand not Tahitian moon sand- but sand is usually fine with Corydoras.
 
I doubt it was the sand that did that. They usually do great on sand
 
andyjs said:
I doubt it was the sand that did that. They usually do great on sand
Click to expand...

:iagree: I use T-Black Moon sand too in my 120 with a school of cories==No problems. .
 
Hmmm...sounds like sand may not be the problem. I will check what I can now - I have all new testing supplies on the way from df&s right now.

The cory's belly is just a mess. The other seems unscathed. It's a pretty well planted tank with lots of places to rest (charcoal bamboo, marimo covered driftwood, etc), but they do tend to hang out in the sand most of the time.

I'll check the params I can and post in a few.

Thanks for all the input.

Cheers - Kalli
 
Ok, using my well-water quick strips, this is what I have:

​
Ammonia: not quite 0, but not up to 2.5
nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 4
Copper: 0
ph: 6.5-6.8
​
Total alkalinity: 40
Ion level: 0
Water hardness: 180

Could be more info than you need in some areas, less in others. All I have on hand are the strips.

Again, thanks for any thoughts.
Cheers - Kalli
 
Actually the Tahitian Moon Sand is made of tiny glass peices and it's sharp. I'd bought a bunch of it for a 100 g I'd put Corys into and it rubbed their little tummies raw & most their barbels off. I switched to 3M ColorQuartz. I'm surprised some others haven't had that problem. I looked it up on some forum at the time back then and it certainly seemed others were having the same problem.
 
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