Bottom Feeders For Gravel Bottom Tank?

[ashcole1989]

fish like corys have barbels, the sticky out feelers, which can get damaged on gravel, i often see mine snuffleing in the sand

The exact info I was looking for what about some khulis? Although I'm also under the impression they also prefer sand?

 

[phoenixgsd]

they also have barbels i have about 10 and think they are the best fish ever

 

[ashcole1989]

So to help out us newbies, especially cjhecks first question, these bottom feeders are best suited to sand. Things like shrimp and snails are better for gravel?

 

[cjheck]

A lot of people have told me that Corys will do fine on small gravel as long as it is easy to push around and not sharp. I added in a "sandbox" of sorts to have a little sand in there for them. Being new at live plants I just didn't want to deal with sand and the substrate underneath the sand required. I just swapped my larger gravel for much smaller sizes.

 

[ashcole1989]

Cj let me know how your corys get on as I'd prefer some smaller/finer gravel apposed to sand so I'd be interested to know how things go

 

[phoenixgsd]

 Being new at live plants I just didn't want to deal with sand and the substrate underneath the sand required.

why would you need a different substrate under your sand, my plants are getting out of control in my tank with just sand, my amazon swords are humungous

 

[cjheck]

 

 Being new at live plants I just didn't want to deal with sand and the substrate underneath the sand required.

why would you need a different substrate under your sand, my plants are getting out of control in my tank with just sand, my amazon swords are humungous
 

I was told by some others on here that with a planted tank it's harder for the roots to grab nutrients from under the sand, so you'd want some kind of nutrient rich substrate underneath for the roots. 

I also prefer the gravel look, so I'll see how this goes.