I read a few articles (cory newbie they came free with a tank) that said that finer gravel is better for the cory's barbels as they spend a lot of time forraging in the substrate. hope that helps
Eco-Complete and Corydoras
- Thread starter Kevin007
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I read a few articles (cory newbie they came free with a tank) that said that finer gravel is better for the cory's barbels as they spend a lot of time forraging in the substrate. hope that helps
Here's pics of my substrate...no fish yet since I'm still cycling, but I'm using 2 parts silica sandblasting sand ($6 for 100lb at Home Depot and lots cleaner than play sand) to 1 part Eco-Complete...so you can see how fine it is. The Eco-complete has a variety of particle sizes but the majority is similar to my sand or smaller (the bigger white pieces are crushed coral 2-3mm in size, I put a small handful in to stabilize my pH) and the eco complete tends to make neat layers through the sand based on particle size, you can see it in the second pic. I just mixed it all together since I'll have plants through most of the tank and supplement with Flourish tabs in the back where the deeper rooted plants are and overall I think the mix has a fairly natural look...not too light or dark. Hope that helps!
to the best of my knowledge, pool and sandblasting sand are very similar in look and content...100% silica and light tan, while play sand has more dust and other small rock content and is darker. You'll still have to rinse the silica, the dust is minimal compared to the dirt in play sand.
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i honestly believe that it has less to do with the actual gravel size and more to do with anaerobic bacteria and bad water quality.
Imagine a cory breathing heavily digging away at the substrate then striking a gas pocket.... poor little guy.
Id also imagine that the poor water quality and how much gunk is in the substrate would harm the barbels more then slightly pointy rocks would.
Imagine a cory breathing heavily digging away at the substrate then striking a gas pocket.... poor little guy.
Id also imagine that the poor water quality and how much gunk is in the substrate would harm the barbels more then slightly pointy rocks would.
I think anything particularly rough and solid will wear down the barbels...it's soft fleshy tissue. Something big and solid (say chunks of gravel) would be like us trying to push around boulders with our hands all day, we'll get scraped up. But a smaller rounder substrate like sand has a lot more give and and will cause less damage with the constant searching they do...it's like building sand castles all day instead 
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Waste & food gets down in between larger particles but sits on top of sand, easier to find for fish & the vacuum. The smaller the corys the more work it is. Smooth & rounded is good, smaller is better, clean & easy to clean is best.
There is a study link on the skeptical aquarist site about keeping corys on broken glass vs bare bottom but with higher waste (nitrates). The barbel wear was apparent on the bare bottom tank but none noticed on the glass shards! The BB corys barbels grew back & the broken glass ones were moved. I found it quite interesting.
There is a study link on the skeptical aquarist site about keeping corys on broken glass vs bare bottom but with higher waste (nitrates). The barbel wear was apparent on the bare bottom tank but none noticed on the glass shards! The BB corys barbels grew back & the broken glass ones were moved. I found it quite interesting.
