Cories - Sand Vs. Gravel

[Dieses Madchen]

Mine are more playful with the sand. They roll around in it like a puppy would a mud puddle

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Not sure what the Paleozoic or horseshoe crabs has to do with cories on sand...

Didn't you put a link in your post???

Personally I don't think it matters what they are on in (parts of) nature, this doesn't mean it is the ideal thing for them.

Nature is Not Always Ideal

Did you not read what was in your link Wasn't the link included to make point? I was merely responding to what I read there.

But let me try and back up and state this differently I guess.

Many folks will post about cories saying that gravel is bad for them. If gravel were a harmful thing for them, one might suspect that in the wild, where they have some choice of where to live, forage and play, that they would tend to avoid places which would harm them (unless fleeing for their lives). The cories in the video were not being threatened or chased onto gravel, they went there on their own. To them the gravel is as natural a place to be on as the sand or the bedrock.

IMO- if you want to see the most natural and active cory behavior, the substrate doesn't matter. What you need is to have a group of 50 to 100 or more of them in a tank. Then you are most likely to see them at their most natural in terms of behavior. Unfortunately, The largest group I have ever kept was about 20. But I have seen big groups in several different tanks, bare bottom, sand and gravel. All of them behaved the same way regardless of the bottom to this untrained eye.

 

[fishguy2727]

I don't think anyone said that gravel was bad. The most that people are saying is that sand is better. I feel it is better in many ways, others feel that it is more natural (or the cories act more naturally or better on it). I don't think anyone said gravel was bad.

If the substrate doesn't matter than why bother?

I wrote was in the link so I know exactly what it says. I am not sure what your response was trying to prove, say, or respond to.

 

[onidrase]

Imo, domesticated fish should not be compared to wild fish. Even if you try to replicate a wild environment in your fish tank, it's never going to be a wild environment. Domesticated fish act a bit differently than in the wild, are kept in a small environment unlike in the wild, and are spoiled to death in terms of the fact that they have someone protecting them, caring for them, and feeding them, unlike in the wild. Wild fish seem to be more resilient to injuries and less picky about diet and habitat because they need to be in order to survive.

Domesticated fish are kept in an environment, that while controlled and small, they will (at least, when kept with an attentive owner) not have any predators, will be fed consistently and sometimes more than necessary, they will be treated if they get injured or sick, and they will be tended to at all costs to keep them healthy and alive. They will be given shelter to their preference unlike in the wild, and with that they should be given a soft substrate.

While I agree catfish can be kept on a rough gravel bottom as long as it's kept clean, I can't agree that it's more or even equally ideal to the catfish than a soft sandy bottom. They act better with sand and display more active and seemingly healthy behavior with it, and because they're domesticated, there shouldn't be a reason to not give it to them.

 

[Inchworm]

Just to put my 2 cents worth in, some of my tanks have playsand as substrate while others have either #1 or #3 gravel in them. I avoid the larger gravel that resembles small pebbles. It doesn't seem to matter which of these substrates are in use, the corys seem to do fine on it.

Imo, domesticated fish should not be compared to wild fish.

FYI, while some of the more common corys are farmed and might be thought of as being domesticated, most of the other species are still wild caught.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I wrote was in the link so I know exactly what it says. I am not sure what your response was trying to prove, say, or respond to.

The point is the horseshoe crab has survived for almost 500,000,000 years. Nature has wiped out most of the species on planet several times since then. But the horseshoe survived. I would not say that the conditions for its survival would not be described as ideal on any level. Nature and ideal are pretty much antithetical. The adaptability of any species to the changes in nature (what is natural) is the key. Ideal conditions are not what nature serves up. Species adapt to nature, not the other way around.

Corys can live "happily" on gravel, on bed rock or on sand. None is better than the other. In fact if you look at videao of corys, and many SA fish in the wild, what you will discover is that the most common feature regarding the bottom is almost all of them are covered with leaf litter and that "mulmylike" stuff all over everything.

 

[This Old Spouse]

What I've found in my experience is that cory do better on sand because it's easier to keep it clean. Gravel harbors all sorts of crap (even if you hoover it well) and if a cory injures a barbel it's much more likely to get sick from it. This is only what I've found in my own tanks. All my tanks now have sand because of the ease of removing the detritus from the surface of it, and since I switched my fish are much healthier.

 

[fishguy2727]

That still doesn't have anything to do with cories and sand. In nature it is about mere survival, not ideal. So the fact that cories will look for food for survival over gravel and bedrock, doesn't mean that the sand isn't better for them overall. All that proves is that gravel and bedrock isn't so bad for them that they have to avoid it in nature.

Anyways...

Anyone reading this: most people find that cories and many other species are more active, playful, and as far as we can tell 'happier' on sand than on other substrates such as gravel. This doesn't mean that gravel will harm them in any way, just that they don't seem to prefer it most cases. IME sand is also a lot cleaner and less maintenance. This means that the water quality and the tank can do better overall with less work on your part. So you can enjoy the fish rather than work on the tank, and the fish do even better.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Okay, the point of MY original post was the personality difference I saw in my cories after I made the switch. It was not to say that gravel was wrong or to say that its more natural. It was to state my observation of my fishes after switching to sand. Can this stop now?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Mine were noticeably more active after I made the switch too.

One more point and I promise that's it. I just wanted to point out that in the wild the gravel isn't the same as in the tank because the currents are flowing and moving things around. In the aquarium it's much more stagnant and isn't refreshed as it is in the wild. That's all. Sorry Dieses.

 

[fishguy2727]

I don't think there is anything to apologize for as long as people stick to the topic and discussion at hand and do not start making personal attacks. Sharing more information, even if it gets a little heated, is still sharing information. In the end everyone is better informed.

 

[Xraymark]

It's been interesting to listen to different opinions.

 

[Harlequins]

I also found a more noticeable difference when i changed from gravel to sand

Our aquariums will never equal the elements in the wild, where continual currents keep the substrate free from possible harmful bacteria which are more prone to affect cories in aquarium situation (more so with gravel than sand,as gravel tends to harbour more bacteria unless its kept relatively clean,therefore harming cory/barbels etc...) than the wild itself.

So well done Dieses for doing what will be beneficial to your corys in the long run.

 

[fishguy2727]

Wild substrates definitely develop bacteria. Most natural bodies of water that have ornamental fish species in them have relatively low overall flow. So low that they can have sand, silt, and even mud as a substrate, all of which can allow for all sorts of bacteria. Just another reason why nature isn't ideal and shouldn't be looked at as the be and end all when it comes to captive care.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I understand that everyone wants to share information, regardless of whether or not its heated, but delving into the mesoteric era to prove a point is a little much. I think that the best thing I have heard so far is that natural wild habitat cannot be compared to a replicated ecosystem in a home aquarium, and because of the lack of current through the gravel, it doesn't get cleaned out as well. I can tell you for sure, that even though I religiously cleaned my gravel on a weekly basis, when I emptied the gravel from the tank to switch it for sand, I almost threw up because of what was in my gravel. I think in the long run, my cories will be healthier and happier and they can sift the sand and roll around and not worry about hurting their pretty scales/skin on possibly sharp gravel, nor will their barbels become infected should injury occur because of the nasty contents of th egravel.