Substract for Corydoras

[Roan Art]

if different species of cory are mixed will they school and be content?

They'll school, but I doubt they will be "content". I've found that different types of cories have different behaviors. My five spotted cories rest a lot at the back of the tank in their favorite spot. Ziggy, my julii cory, is usually off on his own and constantly swims around like a "regular" fish. Fu, my peppered cory, is a workaholic and almost *never* rests. He's *always* looking for food. So, while they do school together from time to time, they have different life styles.

Soon as I am able with the new tanks, I intend to get Fu and Ziggy their own families so that they can be as "content" as any fish can be in an aquarium.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

To add on to what Roan has already said, these Corydoras had been living on very coarse pool filter sand (farthest thing from soft and smooth) for over a year when this photograph was taken. Note the length and symmetry of the barbels.

Wow, those are some nice shots, Ras.

I'll break out my Nikon and my crappy digital and see what I can do. Fu doesn't sit still very long and he's the one that I want to take pictures of. He's a cool cat

Roan

 

[Teelie]

How about pool filter sand? I seen a 50lbs of those for 6.00$

D

Go for it. I have it in my tanks and they love it. Myth on their barbels or not, they much prefer the sand to gravel for sifting around in. Their whiskers are nice and long for sifting through sand, not trying to uproot gravel and digging through it. Just like any kind of substrate though, wash it thoroughly first to remove the dust and floating particles. It takes slightly more to clean sand but it's well worth it IMO. Also cleaner to maintain.

 

[TKOS]

I woudl agree with the above. Pool filter sand will be fine. I use garden variety peastone, which isn't smooth at all and my cories are fine.

As Roan mentions, the loss of barbs is generally caused by water quality and poor diet.