Peppered Corydoras

[KingofthePisces]

hi im new to the subject of corydoras and ive just recently got myself a peppered corydoras and ive noticed that he's missing some barbels on his right side and i was wondering will this impair him from finding his food because i havnt seen him eating any pellets that ive left for him
pic:

 

[SouthernCross]

I've got some albino cories who I noticed didn't have much in the way of barbels when I brought them home - they were juveniles, they grew back a little bit, but not full length in comparison to my other cories. I'm told if they are adults they won't grown back at all. But anyway my albinos have been completely fine, have no trouble finding their food or anything. Yours still has some (i.e. not worn back to the stumps) so I'm sure he'll be fine...

 

[KingofthePisces]

thanks southern cross
im looking to get him some friends once i find somewhere to put all my old fish because my lfs wont trade fish because of pH differentials which i find stupid because if the pH is always changing how does that make a difference for my fish ? well at leased thats what i want to say to him (shudders in fear that i might be banned from the petstore)
oh and my cory is an adult
EDIT: can you mix different species of corydoras?

 

[Coryman]

Firstly, the size of your gravel is somewhat on the large side, which means that the Cory have to work really hard with it's barbels to reach food particles. The barbels are sensory organs not built to be used for moving gravel, a fine smooth sand is far better and will also be more natural for the fish. Given better conditions the barbels should regenerate.

It is always better to have Corys in groups of at least 5 of a species.

Ian

 

[KingofthePisces]

im looking at sand as my substrate but i cant change it for a while im looking at using beach sand from the further in parts of the beach will this work or will it still have salt in it? if so how can i get rid of the salt from the sand? if it isnt worth the time what else can i get?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi KingofthePisces

Sorry to say, beach sand will not work in a freshwater aquarium. It's impossible to remove all the salt. But, an ideal alternative is Play Sand, which is very inexpensive and can be found in any hardware store. This is the sand that is usually used for children's sand boxes. It should not have sharp edges that will abrade toddler's delicate skin, and so will not harm your cory's delicate barbels. It does require considerable rinsing before use, but that's a one time thing and worth the effort.

 

[KingofthePisces]

Hi KingofthePisces

Sorry to say, beach sand will not work in a freshwater aquarium. It's impossible to remove all the salt. But, an ideal alternative is Play Sand, which is very inexpensive and can be found in any hardware store. This is the sand that is usually used for children's sand boxes. It should not have sharp edges that will abrade toddler's delicate skin, and so will not harm your cory's delicate barbels. It does require considerable rinsing before use, but that's a one time thing and worth the effort.

thank inchworm going down to mitre10 on the weekend to have a look and im going to the petstore the next town over to see if they want my fish