Question about Corydoras

[Maff]

I have a 150 litre tank which has cycled and I currently have five black ruby barbs having a field day in there. My substrate is 65% gravel which is held back by larger pebbles then I have inert silver sand covering about 35% of the floor which is 2-3 inch deep. I plan to add Cory's as my very last fish once the sand has gathered some debris and uneaten food.
My question is - will the Cory's head straight for the beach and stay there or will they venture onto the gravel too?
My barbs prefer the sand, they are always in there digging and I just wondered if the Cory's head for the easy digging?

 

[Maff]

Anyone?

 

[itiwhetu]

It will depend on the fish. I have found that Cory's use their barbels to flick bits of food up so they can eat it they will go all over the tank and hunt in all the crevices to find food

 

[Maff]

It will depend on the fish. I have found that Cory's use their barbels to flick bits of food up so they can eat it they will go all over the tank and hunt in all the crevices to find food

That could be a problem then because my gravel is quite rough I've noticed, some of it has sharp edges so I might need to just have sand.

 

[itiwhetu]

I have always kept corys on gravel. But it has always been natural fine river gravel. I know some aquarium gravels are sharp and could be a problem.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Yeh the corys will go all over the tank. They don't strictly need to be kept on sand but anything abrasive can cause damage to their barbels and lead to bacterial and fungal infections.

 

[Colin_T]

I plan to add Cory's as my very last fish once the sand has gathered some debris and uneaten food.
My question is - will the Cory's head straight for the beach and stay there or will they venture onto the gravel too?
My barbs prefer the sand, they are always in there digging and I just wondered if the Cory's head for the easy digging?

You don't want debris and uneaten food in any aquarium because it causes water quality problems (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and can encourage harmful disease organisms to grow.

Corydoras and other catfish should not be used as cleaners, but should be treated as fish that live on the bottom of the aquarium.

 

[Maff]

You don't want debris and uneaten food in any aquarium because it causes water quality problems (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and can encourage harmful disease organisms to grow.

Corydoras and other catfish should not be used as cleaners, but should be treated as fish that live on the bottom of the aquarium.

The build up of debris in any aquarium is inevitable hence the use of tank cleaners to hoover the gravel. From my understanding Cory's are catfish and are bottom feeders who like to dig for food in substrates. Would it not make sense to have a little build up of food in there so they have something to go at?
What would be the idea of them digging in inert sand with nothing in it?

 

[mbsqw1d]

The build up of debris in any aquarium is inevitable hence the use of tank cleaners to hoover the gravel. From my understanding Cory's are catfish and are bottom feeders who like to dig for food in substrates. Would it not make sense to have a little build up of food in there so they have something to go at?
What would be the idea of them digging in inert sand with nothing in it?

Not really a build up of left over food, no. Yes, they are bottom feeders but other than the dedicated sinking pellets that we feed corys, they will filter the sand throughout the day feeding on micro organisms that we don't see. Introducing leaf litter (indian almond, oak..) helps to increase the number of these micro organisms.

 

[Maff]

Not really a build up of left over food, no. Yes, they are bottom feeders but other than the dedicated sinking pellets that we feed corys, they will filter the sand throughout the day feeding on micro organisms that we don't see. Introducing leaf litter (indian almond, oak..) helps to increase the number of these micro organisms.

I see. Never had them before but had plecs in the past which seemed to suck on the glass and cleaned the algae. I may need to change the gravel before considering them.