Do amazon swords need Root tabs? Or can they be fine with no fertilizer/Leaf zone?

Ive heard increased melanin from black sand for panda corys doesnt cause stress, rather, just muddies their colors. Is this true?

UnityLover said:

Ive heard increased melanin from black sand for panda corys doesnt cause stress, rather, just muddies their colors. Is this true?

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What does "muddies the colours" mean?

When a fish that is normally light beige attempts to darken itself to be less conspicuous, it is because it is fearful of being too obvious. If you have ever seen tan-bodies cories on the habitat sand you can hardly see them unless they move. If the fish senses it cannot do this, it is under stress.

Byron said:

What does "muddies the colours" mean?

When a fish that is normally light beige attempts to darken itself to be less conspicuous, it is because it is fearful of being too obvious. If you have ever seen tan-bodies cories on the habitat sand you can hardly see them unless they move. If the fish senses it cannot do this, it is under stress.

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I saw someone experienced keep albino cories on black sand. Is it special to albino cories to not be stressed?

UnityLover said:

I saw someone experienced keep albino cories on black sand. Is it special to albino cories to not be stressed?

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This I cannot answer. Albino forms of a species are white and so far as I know they remain white. But I've no idea as to the effect of a contrasting substrate may have on such a fish.

I haven't tried it yet but really like the look of Micro Sword plant. Apparently they are good for carpeting and have small leaves. The other small leaf plant that comes to mind are Baby Tears.
If someone mentioned those already my apologies

The micro swords I got melted and never came back, but it might have but been that plant or my conditions.

First of all, I do NOT recommend black sand. Fish absolutely change their color to be darker over it and it doesn't look good (besides it being unkind to make them feel stressed on it). Besides that issue, black shows EVERYTHING just like black clothes do. Every tiny plant particle that falls off - and plants are constantly shedding bit and pieces of themselves - will show up like neon lights on your pristine black sand. Think of how much stuff you vacuum up when you do a gravel vac. Now think about being able to see every single bit of it as it contrasts with the black sand. A tank at work had black sand and it was beautiful for about a week. After that it looked dirty constantly no matter how much we cleaned it.

As far as cleaning sand, it is way easier than cleaning gravel. You don't need to plunge the siphon down under the sand like you do with gravel. You just wave it over the sand to make any debris rise up and let the siphon do it's thing. I've read some people say that you have to stir the sand with a chopstick or something but I think that will actually just introduce the crap down into your sand and cause problems with bacterial growth. With plant roots growing through it, that is enough disturbance in my experience. Also, if you end up with snails, as you likely will with plants, they will burrow down into the sand and do all the sand rotation you need. At least this is in my experience. But also, how can it be good to stir the sand when you have plant roots growing? Roots don't like to be stirred.

As far as sand type, I have used play sand and CaribSea Super Naturals Sand. Both are great but the playsand took forever to rinse clean. The CaribSea Super Naturals rinsed clean very quickly by comparison. I used a natural sand color but it doesn't say on the bag what color it is. I'll show pictures of the sand below.

As far as critters, I would suggest just having betta by itself in a 10 gallon. I had one in a 10 and it would cruise around checking everything out. It's like it had a patrol route. I had a few snails from the plants and the betta would try to eat them. Likewise, I've seen one in a 29 gallon tank and it would do the same thing. That tank had a few nerite snails as well and the betta would always make sure to study them. I feel certain that both of these bettas would have tried to eat shrimp. I mean let's be honest, everyone loves shrimp.

If you do have soft water, things with shells and exoskeletons (snails and shrimp) are tricky anyway. Most prefer harder water. There are some that are okay with soft water, but a betta will likely either try to eat or attack it, which isn't fair to the other animal to have to live like that.

I don't recommend cories in a 10 gallon just based on my own experience with having them in 55 gallon. You need a lot of them to make them feel safe, and they stay on the floor, so they need a lot of surface area for the whole gang to have any room. They roam quite a bit too, and there just isn't enough room in a 10 gallon for them to do that. Also, when I did water changes every week, they would go into mating behavior and would zoom all over the tank from side to side along the glass and chase each other. This was mating behavior and would lead to eggs being laid on the side of the tank glass, plant leaves, etc. Without all that room, it is sad to think of them trying to engage in this behavior in a tiny area where they can't really zoom around.

I agree with Byron about not needing CO2. If you really want to get into the plant thing and start doing special set ups and all that, you'll have to really research the subject as it's tricky to get everything just right. Your specific water parameters will alter everything too, so one person saying that such and such worked for them, doesn't mean it will work for you. They might have totally different water. Also, putting fish into those environments can be bad for the fish. There's nothing wrong with just having plants though. I've considered it for myself actually as my cat eats every house plant I've ever brought home, but so far I've decided against it as the set up and maintenance is not something I want to deal with.

I have a low-maintenance, low-tech heavily planted tank. I make do with occasional tabs poked into the sand (although I don't think I've actually used any for a few years, so never mind). Every time I try to use liquid fertilizers of ANY kind, even the well-reviewed, highly recommended ones, I end up with algae. My plants seem to be fine without them for some reason. But again, my experience will be different from yours as my water is likely different. Also, tank size, inhabitants, food I'm using, specific amount and type of light in the room, type of light I use and how long I leave it on, etc. All change what the plants have available to use for growth.

This is what I've used with success in the past. CaribSea Super Naturals natural sand color (sunset gold possibly). Notice how small the grains of sand are compared to the lines in my hands. You will also see that the grains are small and rounded, which is good for critters that like to stay on the bottom and/or root through the sand.

BeckyCats said:

First of all, I do NOT recommend black sand. Fish absolutely change their color to be darker over it and it doesn't look good (besides it being unkind to make them feel stressed on it). Besides that issue, black shows EVERYTHING just like black clothes do. Every tiny plant particle that falls off - and plants are constantly shedding bit and pieces of themselves - will show up like neon lights on your pristine black sand. Think of how much stuff you vacuum up when you do a gravel vac. Now think about being able to see every single bit of it as it contrasts with the black sand. A tank at work had black sand and it was beautiful for about a week. After that it looked dirty constantly no matter how much we cleaned it.

As far as cleaning sand, it is way easier than cleaning gravel. You don't need to plunge the siphon down under the sand like you do with gravel. You just wave it over the sand to make any debris rise up and let the siphon do it's thing. I've read some people say that you have to stir the sand with a chopstick or something but I think that will actually just introduce the crap down into your sand and cause problems with bacterial growth. With plant roots growing through it, that is enough disturbance in my experience. Also, if you end up with snails, as you likely will with plants, they will burrow down into the sand and do all the sand rotation you need. At least this is in my experience. But also, how can it be good to stir the sand when you have plant roots growing? Roots don't like to be stirred.

As far as sand type, I have used play sand and CaribSea Super Naturals Sand. Both are great but the playsand took forever to rinse clean. The CaribSea Super Naturals rinsed clean very quickly by comparison. I used a natural sand color but it doesn't say on the bag what color it is. I'll show pictures of the sand below.

As far as critters, I would suggest just having betta by itself in a 10 gallon. I had one in a 10 and it would cruise around checking everything out. It's like it had a patrol route. I had a few snails from the plants and the betta would try to eat them. Likewise, I've seen one in a 29 gallon tank and it would do the same thing. That tank had a few nerite snails as well and the betta would always make sure to study them. I feel certain that both of these bettas would have tried to eat shrimp. I mean let's be honest, everyone loves shrimp.

If you do have soft water, things with shells and exoskeletons (snails and shrimp) are tricky anyway. Most prefer harder water. There are some that are okay with soft water, but a betta will likely either try to eat or attack it, which isn't fair to the other animal to have to live like that.

I don't recommend cories in a 10 gallon just based on my own experience with having them in 55 gallon. You need a lot of them to make them feel safe, and they stay on the floor, so they need a lot of surface area for the whole gang to have any room. They roam quite a bit too, and there just isn't enough room in a 10 gallon for them to do that. Also, when I did water changes every week, they would go into mating behavior and would zoom all over the tank from side to side along the glass and chase each other. This was mating behavior and would lead to eggs being laid on the side of the tank glass, plant leaves, etc. Without all that room, it is sad to think of them trying to engage in this behavior in a tiny area where they can't really zoom around.

I agree with Byron about not needing CO2. If you really want to get into the plant thing and start doing special set ups and all that, you'll have to really research the subject as it's tricky to get everything just right. Your specific water parameters will alter everything too, so one person saying that such and such worked for them, doesn't mean it will work for you. They might have totally different water. Also, putting fish into those environments can be bad for the fish. There's nothing wrong with just having plants though. I've considered it for myself actually as my cat eats every house plant I've ever brought home, but so far I've decided against it as the set up and maintenance is not something I want to deal with.

I have a low-maintenance, low-tech heavily planted tank. I make do with occasional tabs poked into the sand (although I don't think I've actually used any for a few years, so never mind). Every time I try to use liquid fertilizers of ANY kind, even the well-reviewed, highly recommended ones, I end up with algae. My plants seem to be fine without them for some reason. But again, my experience will be different from yours as my water is likely different. Also, tank size, inhabitants, food I'm using, specific amount and type of light in the room, type of light I use and how long I leave it on, etc. All change what the plants have available to use for growth.

This is what I've used with success in the past. CaribSea Super Naturals natural sand color (sunset gold possibly). Notice how small the grains of sand are compared to the lines in my hands. You will also see that the grains are small and rounded, which is good for critters that like to stay on the bottom and/or root through the sand.

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Dont pygmy corydoras have dark backs?

UnityLover said:

Dont pygmy corydoras have dark backs?

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Like most fish, the dorsal (top) is darkish, and the ventral (underside) is very light. Dark is not black however.

Planted 3 amazon swords in my 75g tank...1 disappeared without trace, and the other 2 looked unwell.
Then I read an article in a 2010 practical fish keeper saying the way to prevent algae killing plants is more light, not less..and more, more, more plants.
Taking this advice on board, alongside advice from this forum on using light fertilizer ( ie trace elements, not phosphates or nitrates, which are what we do water changes to get rid of) my remaining swords are flourishing.
Also read another article saying swords are particularly prone to needing extra trace elements.

UnityLover said:

Dont pygmy corydoras have dark backs?

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I don't know about pygmy cories because I haven't had any. I've seen pepper cories go from light-grey and black, to dark-grey and black (totally losing their cool contrasting colors) on black sand.

But if the fish were dark naturally, they would not show up well on a black background; however, all the plant debris and crap in your tank WILL show up. Think of putting on a clean black shirt strait out of the dryer. Within 40 seconds, it's covered in pet hair (whether or not you own a pet with fur), your own hair, and so much lint that you wonder if it teleported from another universe to deposit itself on you. You then administer a rollie-thing to yourself and avoid sitting down or touching any upholstered furniture for the rest of the day. That will be you with your tank every time you look at the grayish/brownish plant debris, uneaten food, fish poop, etc. on your otherwise lovely black sand. You'll need to vac it out more frequently than necessary, which the fish don't love. Especially in a small 10 gallon tank, when you have a vac tube in there, all the fish you're talking about putting in that tank will have no where to hide without being on top of each other.

I'm sure there are lots and lots of people who will say their black sand is clean and awesome, but I've never seen it look really good in the long term. There are two sorts of people who can keep black sand looking good: the people who never have live plants and seldom keep fish alive for more than a year anyway, or folks whose concern for the aesthetics of their tank overrides their desire to have a life outside tank maintenance. Okay, obviously I'm exaggerating for the sake of humor, but keeping black sand clean and looking nice, really is more of a chore than a natural sand color.

Usually people want black sand because of the sleek look, but the tanks that I've seen with it, are anything but. I don't know if you've ever seen black or dark wood floors. Every speck of dust shows up. I feel like aquariums are not things that can or should look "sleek" or pristine anyway. Being the homes of real animals, they should (imho) be natural places where the only thing super-clean is the water itself. Plant debris, little specks of leaves that darkened and fell off, bits of driftwood that come off the main chunk, random little leaves that break off from the mother plant and float about, etc. should not be stressed over. They should add to the ambiance, if you will.

Besides, if you are going for a carpet of plants, I don't see how the sand color will really matter. Although admittedly the sand will peek out of a full grown plant carpet as well as be seen until the carpet grows in. But I'm thinking that if you like the look of plants, that's a natural look, which is completely the opposite of black sand. Plants growing out of black sand reminds me of weeds growing out of cracks in asphalt, which isn't the most natural or beautiful look. (Never understood why people use black mulch in their yards either, but whatever, I digress).

It's great that you are doing research before just going to the store and buying fish. You'll be a better caretaker because of it.

I feel like I went on a bit of tirade against black sand, but really, do what you want. I just want to make you aware of the problems with it. I've known several people irl that got black sand and were really disappointed with how it ended up looking. One of the tanks was an office tank that someone else set up but somehow I ended up having to clean. That black sand was the bane of my existence because it was so damnably difficult to keep looking decent. If I can save even one person from having to live through the nightmare I went through, I will consider this rant to have been a public service announcement.

UnityLover said:

Dont pygmy corydoras have dark backs?

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I've had spotted cories and green cories before. spotted are like 50+% black, and they still do horribly on pure black sand. once I added a thin layer of play-sand to the first 1 inch of the black sand, there were no problems left.

BeckyCats said:

If I can save even one person from having to live through the nightmare I went through, I will consider this rant to have been a public service announcement.

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I totally agree with your statement. Pure black sand is really bad for fish, even a little bit mixed with brownish sand works.

BeckyCats said:

I don't know about pygmy cories because I haven't had any. I've seen pepper cories go from light-grey and black, to dark-grey and black (totally losing their cool contrasting colors) on black sand.

But if the fish were dark naturally, they would not show up well on a black background; however, all the plant debris and crap in your tank WILL show up. Think of putting on a clean black shirt strait out of the dryer. Within 40 seconds, it's covered in pet hair (whether or not you own a pet with fur), your own hair, and so much lint that you wonder if it teleported from another universe to deposit itself on you. You then administer a rollie-thing to yourself and avoid sitting down or touching any upholstered furniture for the rest of the day. That will be you with your tank every time you look at the grayish/brownish plant debris, uneaten food, fish poop, etc. on your otherwise lovely black sand. You'll need to vac it out more frequently than necessary, which the fish don't love. Especially in a small 10 gallon tank, when you have a vac tube in there, all the fish you're talking about putting in that tank will have no where to hide without being on top of each other.

I'm sure there are lots and lots of people who will say their black sand is clean and awesome, but I've never seen it look really good in the long term. There are two sorts of people who can keep black sand looking good: the people who never have live plants and seldom keep fish alive for more than a year anyway, or folks whose concern for the aesthetics of their tank overrides their desire to have a life outside tank maintenance. Okay, obviously I'm exaggerating for the sake of humor, but keeping black sand clean and looking nice, really is more of a chore than a natural sand color.

Usually people want black sand because of the sleek look, but the tanks that I've seen with it, are anything but. I don't know if you've ever seen black or dark wood floors. Every speck of dust shows up. I feel like aquariums are not things that can or should look "sleek" or pristine anyway. Being the homes of real animals, they should (imho) be natural places where the only thing super-clean is the water itself. Plant debris, little specks of leaves that darkened and fell off, bits of driftwood that come off the main chunk, random little leaves that break off from the mother plant and float about, etc. should not be stressed over. They should add to the ambiance, if you will.

Besides, if you are going for a carpet of plants, I don't see how the sand color will really matter. Although admittedly the sand will peek out of a full grown plant carpet as well as be seen until the carpet grows in. But I'm thinking that if you like the look of plants, that's a natural look, which is completely the opposite of black sand. Plants growing out of black sand reminds me of weeds growing out of cracks in asphalt, which isn't the most natural or beautiful look. (Never understood why people use black mulch in their yards either, but whatever, I digress).

It's great that you are doing research before just going to the store and buying fish. You'll be a better caretaker because of it.

I feel like I went on a bit of tirade against black sand, but really, do what you want. I just want to make you aware of the problems with it. I've known several people irl that got black sand and were really disappointed with how it ended up looking. One of the tanks was an office tank that someone else set up but somehow I ended up having to clean. That black sand was the bane of my existence because it was so damnably difficult to keep looking decent. If I can save even one person from having to live through the nightmare I went through, I will consider this rant to have been a public service announcement.

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About that carpet, turns out that the carpet plants are dwarf baby tears. An extremely difficult plant that needs high light, Co2, or it will melt away. Ill try and get caribsea super naturals, if my petsmart doesnt have it, ill get black sand, but ill try for normal sand.

UnityLover said:

About that carpet, turns out that the carpet plants are dwarf baby tears. An extremely difficult plant that needs high light, Co2, or it will melt away. Ill try and get caribsea super naturals, if my petsmart doesnt have it, ill get black sand, but ill try for normal sand.

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Oh, yeah, I tried those as well and had them melt away just as you describe.

Best of luck with your new tank! I'm glad you are doing research and are willing to consider the welfare of the animal(s) and not just the aesthetics! I fear too many are just looking for a live-action decoration rather than a pet. Good to know you're heading in with the right mindset.