What Is Best For A Cory Sand Or Rounded Gravel Substrate Need Help To

[GuppiesRGr8]

Hi I have an undergravel filter and it would be clogged if I have sand but I'm willing to change the fiter if sand is best but sharp gravel will were down there barbles.

 

[geo7x]

sand is not good for undergravel filters, i think im right in saying that the sand is too compact and therefore does not allow enough water flow inbetween the grains (?) So with an undergravel filter i would get rounded gravel (look at pinned topics on gravel) but if you changed filters then IMO i like sand, i think it looks better and corys loves sifting through it.

 

[snowyangel]

Sand it better for a cory imo but you can get very small gravel which is also fine for cories. You want small bedding so the cories precious whiskers are not damaged during scavanging.

 

[KathyM]

I use fine dorset pea gravel and the cories love that - it's nice and rounded and they all have lovely barbels

 

[GuppiesRGr8]

tank you how big is pea gravel.........................................a pea sized gravel?

 

[GuppiesRGr8]

do corys peffer to have rounded gravel because i have kept my undergravel filter and got a small gravel filter as its so much more easyer to clean with a vacum!

has any one got any pics on corys?

i love them

 

[nmonks]

Sand stays cleaner than gravel. Muck and fish poop sits on the sand, as it cannot sink in, and just grabs your attention encouraging you to siphon it out. Another plus with sand is that the fish can "earth eat", and spew the sand out their gills safely. Fish love doing this, and my Corydoras hapoily stick their heads right into the substrate like manic vacuum cleaners.

Cheers,

Neale

do corys peffer to have rounded gravel because i have kept my undergravel filter and got a small gravel filter as its so much more easyer to clean with a vacum!

 

[garraty]

Sand stays cleaner than gravel. Muck and fish poop sits on the sand, as it cannot sink in, and just grabs your attention encouraging you to siphon it out.

I have to agree with that. I keep most of my Corys in sand and never had a problem with the substrate being dirty despite what others say. That just answered why. It is easy to see stuff sitting on top of the sand that would otherwise sink in gravel.

My Corys seem to love the sand, their head is stuck in it all the time. I have some that are in very small gravel and they are getting along very well, even had a panda that had lost it's barbels in another tank and is growing them back in a tank with very small sized gravel. The ones in gravel just never seem to bury themselves in it, and never substrate-sift either.

 

[Harif87]

Its a crazy question but do you think i could but beach sand in my tank as substrate??

 

[garraty]

Its a crazy question but do you think i could but beach sand in my tank as substrate??

Problem with beach sand is that it contains a lot of shell pieces (the salt can be washed off) that will cause problems in a non salt water tank. Sand from a stream/river would work fine, I'd stay clear of beach sand in any freshwater tank.

 

[BigIan]

id stear clear of any sand from lakes rivers or beaches as they will contain organisms that may well harm your fish,
play sand is what i used and it worked a treat

 

[samyboy]

i switched from gravel to sand the day after i bought my first cory's well worth the effort they love sand

 

[junglejo]

I have a bronze cory whose barbels were worn down because it was in a tank with pea gravel. He has been transferred to a tank with a sand substrate and they have grown back in three weeks. It seems so much happier in it's new home.

 

[Andrew Tan]

I have a bronze cory whose barbels were worn down because it was in a tank with pea gravel. He has been transferred to a tank with a sand substrate and they have grown back in three weeks. It seems so much happier in it's new home.

Yep I switch from horticultural grit to fine sand and my cories have been so much more happy. They're now really active and just love sticking their heads in the sand when they're searching for food.

 

[ciarantropicalfishman]

yep sand is so much better a couple of days after gettin my cories i changed to sand and now there really happy i thought about play sand mine i have got cost a bomb