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For the cory's how do I know if my gravel is sharp?

How should I move Cory fish out of the tank? They are fast moving fish. should I use a cup, or fish net? Do cory fish jump? I think I can remove my glow tetra's, they do not swim away, when I come towards the tank. Maybe they be easy to catch, once I empty out, some of the fish water.
Bring the water down a bit below the 3/4 mark and try to catch them to put them in a bucket of tank water... Its what I did when I rescaped. I put the fish into a bucket filled with tank water.
They shouldn't be in there for TOO long as you tank the old substrate out and put the new stuff in
 
How should I move Cory fish out of the tank? They are fast moving fish. should I use a cup, or fish net? Do cory fish jump? I think I can remove my glow tetra's, they do not swim away, when I come towards the tank. Maybe they be easy to catch, once I empty out, some of the fish water.
Cories are very hard to catch. Lower the water, remove the ornaments. Use one net in a corner and herd the fish into it with a second net. Place the net onto the glass once you have a fish to trap it, then you can slowly move it up to the surface when you are ready. Any fish will jump, cories flip flop around to escape but are hampered by their hooks which can be damaged in the net so that is why its best to move slow and steady.
Have a temporary tank or tote set up for the substrate change as these things always take longer than we would like. Make sure it is covered to stop fish jumping out.
 
For the cory's how do I know if my gravel is sharp? I picked it up and rubbed against my hand and it did not scratch my hand. So does this mean my gravel is not sharp. The gravel is fine and slips past my fingers while holding the gravel.
I just want to make sure everything is ok for my Cory's. They are quite active and swim in a school. I love Cory's as much as Betta's. Cool fish to watch and enjoy. I was thinking of using sand instead to be on the safe side. What fun that is going to be, to empty out my entire tank, and getting rid of all the gravel. I know it's all my fault I should of done my research, before buying the fish. Is there an easy way to get rid of the gravel? Is very fine and thin gravel.
Corydoras live in the wild in very sharp supstrate. A mixture of sand and gravel. It should be fine.
 
Corydoras live in the wild in very sharp supstrate. A mixture of sand and gravel. It should be fine.

This is somewhat misleading, since it implies that gravel is fine. It is not. The following information comes from Ian Fuller who has spent a lifetime collecting, maintaining, spawning dozens of species.

The first thing to remember with this group of fishes is that they are primarily filter feeders. They do not have cutting or crushing teeth like some of the predatory Catfish, nor do the have rasping teeth like the grazing Loricariid Catfish, these fish will sift the substrate, which in the majority of cases is sand.​
Smooth sand which been created over millions of years by the constant tumbling action of moving water, whether it be the oceans tidal and wave actions or the constant varying flow of rivers. The more the flow and tumbling action the finer the sand becomes.​
In some areas the sand found can be fairly course, and grains could be as large as one millimeter, or as fine as caster sugar, the one thing that will be common is that the grains will be smooth and not sharp and gritty like quarried sand as use in the building industry.​
Over many years I have spent many hours watching, and filming Cory’s feeding, in some cases it is quite comical, especially with the larger straight (Lineage 8) and curved (Lineage 1) snouted species who tend to bury the deepest, Some almost completely burying themselves when they dive right in searching out the food they sense is there. I have taken video clips of the feeding actions of several species from different lineages. And all, even the smallest species will mouth the sand.​
There are places where there are gravel, pebble and rock rivers and streams, but when taking a good look at some of these places the streams and riverbeds are sand. The natural habitat of C. weitzmani is one such place. I have never seen deep layers of a single sizes gravel; it is always a range of many variable sizes and usually it appears as a widespread scattering.​
The biggest problem with using any type of gravel in an aquarium is that food particles will fall between the particles and decompose, and if the aquarium is not maintained and or filtered adequately the water quality will deteriorate very quickly. The other danger as far as keeping Cory’s over gravel is the fact that they cannot easily move gravel to access the particles of food within it, and if the gravel is of anything other than smooth and rounded particles they can and often do damage their delicate barbels and mouths parts.​
 

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