Sand Vs Gravel Again!

[MizuFish]

I am so excited! My nearby fish store got a hold of a Cory baby of the same kind that I already have and I brought it home with me right away. It is so tiny, so amazingly cute, it's breaking my heart over and over being so insanely cute. They bounded right away and, wow, what a change. One of the best moves I've ever done probably. Hopefully in the future I can add to their little family but gotta think before buying

Anyway!
I have bought sand that I wanted to put into the tank, however, I don't have enough for the whole tank and it just isn't a priority to buy more right now. My thought was that I could at least add what I have and then keep the regular gravel that I have right now to cover up the areas that won't be covered. Is this alright? It feels like it would be kind of a natural enviroment and at least they'd have some sand to play around with?

Should I have plants in the sand? Both my Corys don't seem to care at all about the plants I have but I might be mistaken. Would it also be better to move their home to the sand area?

Sorry for all the questions, I always tend to over think but I am so excited about them and I refuse to have them being left out or forgotten in the community tank!

 

[KittyKat]

I am so excited! My nearby fish store got a hold of a Cory baby of the same kind that I already have and I brought it home with me right away. It is so tiny, so amazingly cute, it's breaking my heart over and over being so insanely cute. They bounded right away and, wow, what a change. One of the best moves I've ever done probably. Hopefully in the future I can add to their little family but gotta think before buying

They are a schooling species and do not do well in small groups, which is why I recommend that they should never be kept in any group under 6 or individually (with the exception of short periods of time for breeding purposes).

I have bought sand that I wanted to put into the tank, however, I don't have enough for the whole tank and it just isn't a priority to buy more right now. My thought was that I could at least add what I have and then keep the regular gravel that I have right now to cover up the areas that won't be covered. Is this alright? It feels like it would be kind of a natural enviroment and at least they'd have some sand to play around with?

If you don't have plants or anything else which requires a deep substrate bed, even 5 mm of sand all over the bottom should be fine. Otherwise, it is fine to mix, but keep in mind that the sand will sink to the bottom so it probably is a better idea to clear one corner of the tank for the sand. When you get the gravel out, if you use a fish net with larger wholes in it, the sand should just fall right through. Have you considered using play sand? I have bought it from garden centres for as little as around 100 yen for a 25 litre bag, which is very affordable.

Should I have plants in the sand? Both my Corys don't seem to care at all about the plants I have but I might be mistaken. Would it also be better to move their home to the sand area?

Almost all fish do better with plants: plants make them feel more secure, provide a food source for some, help the filter, reduce nitrates… I have found that it makes little difference whether the plants are in sand of gravel, although some people say that in gravel is better.

 

[MizuFish]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

I have plants in the tank but I'd rather keep them together in the gravel than planting some in the sand I was thinking of doing one third sand then it will cover well and I still have gravel for the plants.

I will look into sand a bit more, I prefer to put ADA gravel and sand into my tanks and the stock was running low.

If I'm not changing all the gravel would I still have to take the fish out..? I'd rather not but they need to be safe.

 

[KittyKat]

If I'm not changing all the gravel would I still have to take the fish out..? I'd rather not but they need to be safe.

If you wash the sand well and are very careful, then you shouldn't need to. You will need to lower the sand in gently, using a glass, for example.

 

[MizuFish]

It's now done, I added sand to about 1/3 of the tank after washing and rinsing it carefully. I created a little Cory corner where they have a rock with a hole in and some grass and other small things to roam around in and get some rest from the light during the day. My big Cory doesn't seem too impressed though, he doesn't go on the sand much at all and doesn't like the rock either, never has. But the small baby spends more time in the sand so he seems to like it more, the bigger gravel probably exhaust him at times I hope the bigger one will enjoy the sand soon

The current seems to be a bit strong over by the sand I noticed but from videos of Corys that I've watched they usually live in high current water but maybe that's just for food hunting...

 

[karawr]

I'm sure the bigger one will enjoy the sand once he realizes how fun it is.

I don't know which cories you have but I have habrosus and they're really small. I don't know if they technically like current but I find they get pushed around a lot. It looks like they are always trying to grip the sand with their little fins!! lol So I try to keep the current low.

 

[MizuFish]

I'm sure the bigger one will enjoy the sand once he realizes how fun it is.

I don't know which cories you have but I have habrosus and they're really small. I don't know if they technically like current but I find they get pushed around a lot. It looks like they are always trying to grip the sand with their little fins!! lol So I try to keep the current low.

Oh oh! I believe they are called skunk Corys! They have a long latin name too but I always fail to remember it, it's just too fancy. The bigger one is over an inch but the small one is so tiiiny, he's so adorable. Maybe I should angle the outlet from the filter a little bit while the little one is small.

My bigger one was SHOCKED that I ruined his hiding place by placing the bubble curtain differently (so it looked better) he had his home right under it and just refuses to try out the better spots I made for him. Now I put it back down right next to the sand and he's forgiven me. He still isn't too impressed with the sand.. the neon tetras love it though. These fish just love doing the opposite of what I thought out, haha. I try to feed a bit over the sand so that there will be some goodies to find there.

I managed to make the sand area bigger so hopefully he'll spend more time there.. though as long as he's happy it's all good with me.