No one told me this....

Be careful with Flourite substrate. If this is the gravel (as opposed to the Flourite "sand") I would not risk corys. I had a group of panda and similis corys in my 70g when it had Flourite, and it took me several weeks to figure out what was the problem, with the corys never very active, and then I began to see some barbel and mouth degeneration and blood patches. Assumed it was the Flourite, so moved the corys to my sand substrate tank and they recovered (one still has no barbels, but the blood patches went away) and they are all scampering about with the other 30-odd corys, for about 18 months now.

I was told by a catfish breeder not to put corys over these enriched substrates like Eco-Complete or Flourite, and I can see why. I have heard that the Flourite sand is not so bad, but haven't used it so can't say if it is perhaps too sharp as well. I had the Flourite for two years and it was still very rough. Got rid of it, used play sand, as the plants weren't any better with Flourite anyway.

Byron.
 
authmal said:
Panda cories are awesome. I'm debating whether I should get some to throw in with my betta. The problem is that I'm not sure how they'll do in my 55 with the Flourite substrate, so I don't have much of a Plan B if the betta doesn't get along with them.

That said, I've also been eyeballing panda garra, and am leaning more that way, since they're not as vulnerable to potential sharp edges in the substrate the way a cory is.
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I would not recommend corys over Flourite. I had to move my C. panda and C. similis out of the 70g which had a Flourite substrate because of damage to their barbels and mouths; they got blood patches and barbel degeneration. They recovered in the 115g sand substrate tank and are fine now after some 18 months, though the barbels didn't grow back, but otherwise OK. A catfish breeder/importer once told me never to put corys over Eco-Complete or Flourite due to sharpness. I kept the Flourite in that tank for two years, and it was still rough on my hands when planting. Got rid of it for play sand, as the plants were no better anyway. Very expensive too.

Byron.
 
@the OP: All cories are adorable when babies :p:
 
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