Thinking about changing substrate
- Thread starter Mucwad
- Start date
Not to discourage your from changing gravel, but cories are perfectly fine in gravel substrate. The myth that gravel erodes their barbels is just that. If the water quality declines, the barbels may be the first visibly sign--but it's not the gravel at all.
patoloco
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Corys should not be harmed by gravel provided it has not acute edges on it. I've used regular garden pebbles in my tanks with the corys and no sign of abrassion has been observed. I've never had a cory in sand.
I use sand in my stingrays tanks since those fishes like to bury themselves. Sand is great looking but it's more difficult to keep clean than gravel.
However, if you decide to switch, buy bagged sand specially made for freshwater aquarium, and make sure it is silica free. Silica is very abrasive and hurt my rays. Maybe will do the same to a cory. using natural collected sand, i.e. from a river, will be risky for any diseased carried over to your tank. DO NOT USE BUILDER SAND as this compacts a lot and is very abressive too.
REMEMBER: if you use sand, you cannot use an Undergravel filter.
I use sand in my stingrays tanks since those fishes like to bury themselves. Sand is great looking but it's more difficult to keep clean than gravel.
However, if you decide to switch, buy bagged sand specially made for freshwater aquarium, and make sure it is silica free. Silica is very abrasive and hurt my rays. Maybe will do the same to a cory. using natural collected sand, i.e. from a river, will be risky for any diseased carried over to your tank. DO NOT USE BUILDER SAND as this compacts a lot and is very abressive too.
REMEMBER: if you use sand, you cannot use an Undergravel filter.
patoloco
De seguro no sabes lo que dice aqu
I wanted to give the first reply and Oriongirl posted while I was typing. 
I need quicker fingers.
I need quicker fingers.
Switching from gravel to sand is tedious, but otherwise easy.
Play sand from home depot works great (silica or not). Sand plucked specially for aquariums is ridiculously (at least in my area, not sure about others) expensive. I have had play sand in my 30g and 38g tanks, set up for... about 2 years I think... I have never experienced problems with my cories from it or any of my other fish (like my kuhli loach). Make sure you wash the playsand before you use it or the silt in it will cloud your water for a few weeks at least.
Play sand from home depot works great (silica or not). Sand plucked specially for aquariums is ridiculously (at least in my area, not sure about others) expensive. I have had play sand in my 30g and 38g tanks, set up for... about 2 years I think... I have never experienced problems with my cories from it or any of my other fish (like my kuhli loach). Make sure you wash the playsand before you use it or the silt in it will cloud your water for a few weeks at least.
Cories might be ok in gravel.....but there is a chance that their barbels will be damaged and they prefer sand over gravel. The optimum substrate from them is sand.....if you have fine sharp gravel pieces as is fairly common in aquariums then their barbels will get damaged. I also think sand is just as easy to take care of as gravel and looks more natural.
I am speaking from my experiences...I had my cories in gravel for a while and the barbels definatley got damaged. I have since moved them to another aquarium with sand and the bahavior differences are noticable as well as their barbels looking much healthier.
I am speaking from my experiences...I had my cories in gravel for a while and the barbels definatley got damaged. I have since moved them to another aquarium with sand and the bahavior differences are noticable as well as their barbels looking much healthier.
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patoloco
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When I was deciding the best sand to use with rays, I considered playsand, but I couldn't find something with that name here in Costa Rica. When I think in playsand I get the image from children playing in a squared zone in the yard limited by wood tables or something like that. That kind of setup in not common in this country, so playsand was not a locally available option.
Bagged sand do is expensive. I buy mine as a $1 per pound. But i believe this is well invested money for it gives me confidence in a -hopefully- quality product.
I FORGOT: avoid using marine sand for freshwater tanks. I can't recall the exact reason right now, but don't use it. Use "freshwater sand".
Bagged sand do is expensive. I buy mine as a $1 per pound. But i believe this is well invested money for it gives me confidence in a -hopefully- quality product.
I FORGOT: avoid using marine sand for freshwater tanks. I can't recall the exact reason right now, but don't use it. Use "freshwater sand".
patoloco
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knashash said:
Keeping sand in not totally difficult, but is a little trickier to clean than gravel
First, you cannot siphon it as deep as the gravel of you'll have more sand out than inside the tank . Siphoning has to be done really softly to remove only the poop and uneaten food.
Also, sand shows the litter. What I mean is that debris hides in gravel, but stands on top of sand. This is good for ease of cleaning, but more frequent cleaning is required or your botton will look really dirty. (Specially with black sand.)
Cahnging subject, I think the best sustrate for keeping "corys" is mud, but I don't imagine myself putting mud in my tank. Would like to know from someone's experience if mud can be used in a tank.
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I believe patoloco is refering to Aragonite sand commonly used in marine tanks, and is correct, you should not use it in freshwater as it will raise the ph and hardness of your water (unless you are doing a Rift Lake Tank).
The sand sold by Estes however is labeled "Marine Sand" and IS safe for freshwater. It's similar in size to pool filter sand, and is perfect for cichlids. It does cost more than playsand, but comes in white and black (looks great mixed together) and needs NO RINSING (you have to rinse playsand for close to an hour to get it decently clean). I would at least buy a bag of black to mix with whatever kind of sand you go with. Just remember, you can always add more black sand, but picking it out is a major PITA :joke:
The sand sold by Estes however is labeled "Marine Sand" and IS safe for freshwater. It's similar in size to pool filter sand, and is perfect for cichlids. It does cost more than playsand, but comes in white and black (looks great mixed together) and needs NO RINSING (you have to rinse playsand for close to an hour to get it decently clean). I would at least buy a bag of black to mix with whatever kind of sand you go with. Just remember, you can always add more black sand, but picking it out is a major PITA :joke: