Which Substrate

[mattlee]

i am setting my new tank up at the weekend and cant decide on fine gravel or sand, i will be adding 3 polkadot loach and 6 or 8 corys. they seem fine in my current tank on gravel but is sand better?.

 

[JenCliBee]

i am setting my new tank up at the weekend and cant decide on fine gravel or sand, i will be adding 3 polkadot loach and 6 or 8 corys. they seem fine in my current tank on gravel but is sand better?.

Sand always with cory's, you will see much more natural behaviour from them, also rids the risk of barbel damage and infection

 

[Coryologist]

Sand always with cory's, you will see much more natural behaviour from them, also rids the risk of barbel damage and infection

Agreed, but let's clarify. Using sand will lessen the risk of barbel infection, but the sand should be stirred-up, every few days, depending on it's depth to ensure that it stays clean. The Corys can't do it all by themselves, especially the younger fish. A small point, but as I have learned the hard way, a very important one. - Frank

 

[mattlee]

would small gravel be ok with the barbels? been looking today and still cant choose..... i really want easy maintenance but also safe for the fish..... been using a gravel vac and its so easy to do

 

[Coryologist]

would small gravel be ok with the barbels? been looking today and still cant choose..... i really want easy maintenance but also safe for the fish..... been using a gravel vac and its so easy to do

All you can do is try it and see how it works for you. - F.

 

[VictorMeldrew]

Tesco play sand is perfect and only a couple of pound.

 

[mattlee]

its not the cost its the practicality of it, i need to weigh fake plants down and dont want to be stiring it every other day to release gasses etc. i have alot of the small grasses in the forground of the tank that need weighing down and im not sure sand will do it unless its really deep

 

[VictorMeldrew]

You could put a layer of eco-complete under it aswell

 

[mattlee]

not sure what that is what is it?

 

[mattlee]

You could put a layer of eco-complete under it aswell

just looked at eco complete and thats for real plants..... i have fake plants

would sand hold them down?

 

[Syphoniera]

I have pygmy cories breeding like crazy in a tank with overly coarse-sized - but smooth-surfaced - polished quartz gravel.
Clearly, their little barbels are not worn down by this.
It makes sense to me that it would be ROUGH surfaces, rather than LARGE ones that are damaging to them to be perpetually digging around in...

Edit: Vengeful Silence speaks much solid sense.

 

[Vengeful Silence]

Sand would definitely be less effective at anchoring your plants and, in my opinion, much more difficult to vacuum. From what I've read (as this is something I've never expereinced with corydoras regardless of substrate), barbel erosion in corydoras species is a product of poor water quality, rather than the type of substrate used. As I said, I've never experienced barbel erosion in any of my corydoras, and I've kept them on both sand and gravel. My advice would be to go with what makes you happy and is easiest for you to work with.

 

[Purity]

I've kept Corydoras on fine and rough gravel before, the fine gravel is ok, and is safer for your cories. Have you considered say, 2 inches of fine gravel and 1 inch of sand on top? I'm fairly sure that that is a winner all round.

 

[chelbel]

Or do what I have done and have both

We have a sand corner and smooth pebble like small substrate

 

[Kels_eh]

Is pool filter sand alright to use as a substrate? It comes in a few more colours (from a brown to a white) & isn't too expensive either. I've also heard it has "sharp particles" apparently to make it better to filter- but are they going to be so sharp that they injure my cory's.

I'm just setting up my tank & haven't gotten cory's yet (obviously I have to cycle first) I just want to make sure I'm making them the happiest home possible. Thanks.