Corydoras In The Wild Living On Gravel

[Caprichoso]

Here's a link to an interesting video about Corydoras found living on different types of substrate, including gravel and sharp rocks. Versatile little guys!

Thanks for watching

http/en.aquanet.tv/Video/225-soft-barbels-on-sharp-gravel-surprise-corydoras-live-on-various-substrates

 

[200sx]

amazing to watch these little guys cheers for the link some other good vids on there

 

[Baccus]

very interesting, and even though I already have a mix of sand and smooth gravel in my cory tanks with some leaves I think I will add some more leaves and see if some or my more stubborn types decide the tank finally meets their standards.

 

[fishmad135]

Thanks! Really enjoyed the vid!

 

[Harlequins]

Fab video thanks

 

[botia]

that is a great video

 

[Caprichoso]

There is always this debate on whether or not you can keep corydora "successfully", long term on substrates other than sand. I feel the answer is YES. I have had corydoras for over 15 years, always on 3-6mm sized gravel. Some of the gravel bits look round and smooth, some of it looks rough and slightly jaggy. But, all of my corydora have long barbels and have no trouble feeding. I do nothing special other than large weekly water changes and gravel vac. So convince me if there is a reason I should switch to sand.

Thanks for watching the video

 

[fluttermoth]

Because cories love sand. Even if you just put a patch in so they can play in it.

Don't forget that you don't know from that video whether the cories habitually feed in those areas, or whether they're just swimming through. Also, I've noticed that if you look closely a lot of the substrate, while very rocky, is actually sand underneath and in between.

I used to keep my cories on gravel; and like you I thought they were happy, but once I put some on sand and saw the difference in them, I won't ever, ever put them back on gravel; it's just not fair on the little guys.

 

[Harlequins]

I agree with flutter,my corys act totally different on sand has opposed to gravel,and has i mentioned on another thread,& has flutter says,just because they show rocky/jagged substrate doesn't necessary mean they feed on it...

I love watching my corys filtering sand through the gills looking for morsels,and would never go back to gravel with them!

My first lot of cories had gravel and it resulted in them having stunted barbels,they're still alive but have stumps.

 

[Caprichoso]

I see where this is going but how do you know my fish are not "happy"? They are healthy and breeding and very active. I've seen video of cories in tanks on sand substrate and other than sand coming out of their gills, there is no difference to their behaviour from my cories. My cories have their full barbels too. I don't see how you can say it's not "fair" to have them on gravel when you have not experienced my success. Just because it didn't work for you doesn't mean that it can't work for others. I notice many people say they have problems with their cories losing their barbels. The biggest reason for this is because the water and substrate is not clean which causes fungal and bacterial problems. I would say that in almost all cases, this is the reason for barbel loss. It's much easier to blame the substrate than blame the fish keeper. Now, I'm not closed minded about this, if I thought I could make my cories "happier" with sand, I would have changed substrate a long time ago. But how can you argue with breeding, active, healthy fish? I've seen many posts on here where cories are sick and they are on sand just as much as the people who have them on gravel. That is really my point, is that it's not a substrate making fish sick, it's lack of keeping water parameters where they should be and having healthy substrate. I do agree that food particles fall into gravel more and can rot and cause issues, but here again, its not the substrate that's to blame but more so lack of gravel vac and over-feeding. As far as the "happy" thing goes, I wonder how you can measure that in a fish? Since they cannot tell us, we have to look at health, breeding and behaviour, water conditions, etc. Trust me, I'm not the type of person that measures success based on just merely keeping something alive. You will never see me have a betta in a small tank, keep oscars and other huge fish in an aquarium, etc. For the record, I have been considering placing some sand in the foreground of my tank because I think it creates a nice effect and so I guess at that point I will see where the cories like to hang out more. I'll post my results.

Thanks for reading

 

[Inchworm]

I agree with you, Caprichoso. While sand is a good substrate, I also keep my corys on #1 and #3 gravel. These consist of fine, rounded bits, not the coarse pebbles that some people use. As long as it is kept clean and free of uneaten food and other debris, corys can be kept safely on it.

Thanks for posting that video. I will add it to our pinned "Special Interest" section at the top of this forum.

 

[Caprichoso]

I agree with you, Caprichoso. While sand is a good substrate, I also keep my corys on #1 and #3 gravel. These consist of fine, rounded bits, not the coarse pebbles that some people use. As long as it is kept clean and free of uneaten food and other debris, corys can be kept safely on it.

Thanks for posting that video. I will add it to our pinned "Special Interest" section at the top of this forum.

Cool, thanks