Bristle-Nosed Catfish And Sand Substrate

[ShinySideUp]

I don't know how stupid this question is but I trust I'm about to find out.

I have just bought a 240 litre tank and have moved almost everything to it from a 120 litre jobby. The only fish left in the smaller tank is my bristle-nosed catfish and he is only there because when I caught him to move I found he had a fungal infection on one flank. I have put him back in the smaller tank and treated the water which is going well.

Now these catfish have quite a wide mouth and it has suddenly crossed my mind that putting something so wide-mouthed in a tank that has a sandy base might not be a good idea (my smaller tank has a gravel substrate) as during feeding I kinda imagine that he might suck up quite a lot of sand, to his detriment-- is this likely to happen? Even as I write the question it seems more than a little daft but it's started to bug me.

Martin

PS The clown and kuhli loaches and cory's love the new sandy base.

 

[Westwood]

I keep all my plecs on sand, and i dont have any trouble at all.
I do see my bristlenose pick up sand but the spit it out their gills so I don't think it is a problem!

 

[This Old Spouse]

That's the way they feed the best ... suck up whatever their little hoover noses run across, and blow out whatever they don't want through their gills. My cory do that too, and so do any catfish I've seen.

By the way ... not a stupid question at all!

 

[ShinySideUp]

I keep all my plecs on sand, and i dont have any trouble at all.
I do see my bristlenose pick up sand but the spit it out their gills so I don't think it is a problem!

That's the way they feed the best ... suck up whatever their little hoover noses run across, and blow out whatever they don't want through their gills. My cory do that too, and so do any catfish I've seen.

By the way ... not a stupid question at all!

Thank you people. As I have never used sand before I was worried how fish in general coped with it and of course catfish in particular. I didn't realise that they would actually move it through their mouths and gills. I suppose I just had a human reaction to sand (much spitting and coughing ) and applied it to all creatures. I suppose I should have known as when I take my dog to the beach he picks up sticks and pebbles covered in sand and when we get home small grains appear in his eyes that have moved through his ENT system -- doesn't bother him at all.

Cheers again

Martin