Substrate You Are Using

[zain611]

can you users post me what substrate you are using for your corys thanks

 

[phoenixgsd]

playsand from argos

 

[fluttermoth]

Me too.

Have it nearly all my tanks. Cheap and great for both cories and loaches.

 

[chokko]

for those in australia, i recommend this sand from Bunnings, for about $8/bag:

they have a cheaper brand but it looks so fine, it'll all be gone by the time you wash it

 

[DrRob]

Playsand here as well, and some aquasoil that doesn't seem to bother them.

 

[zain611]

Just wanted to see what substrate you are using for your gravel, in one of my pets@home i remember seeing corys in a pebble substrate which looked smooth

 

[fluttermoth]

Personally, I wouldn't keep cories on any kind of gravel. I know some people do (I used to be one of them!), but after seeing them on sand, I will never go back to gravel for them.

Sand is better for them, easier to keep clean so they don't get infections on their barbels, and it allows them to perform their natural behaviours, like rooting through it for food.

 

[Zikofski]

i use Unipac Senegal sand amazing colour a bit pricey but i am so happy the way it look and has turned out my pic in sig is that sand

 

[DrSlackBladder]

I have 6 corys (amongst other fish) for the last month on large (6mm) smooth pea gravel - they are doing great but after reading so many articles about sand, I'm planning to change in the next few weeks.

 

[zain611]

just wondering but do shrimps prefer sand also did you have any problems with corys when you had them in gravel fluttermoth?

 

[zain611]

im really thinking of doing some experiments to see if i can make my tank crystal clear when i add sand. im thinking of:

blasting the water from the hose into the bucket of sand as i think when i first washed gravel i ajitated it with my hand
put the sand in a cup and put it down in the tank with water so the particals dont swish around

 

[fluttermoth]

Shrimps do prefer sand as well, IME.

I did have some panda cories lose their barbels, yes.

I don't think they can really be happy on gravel; you only realise when you see how much they enjoy it. One of the nicest things in fishkeeping is smoothing your sand out during a water change, and next morning you get up and it's covered in little dimples where they've been digging their noses in

.

To clean sand; put some in a bucket (no more than a third full). Fill the bucket up with water, stir it all round, and then pour out the water, and all the dust that's in it, away.

Then do it again and again, until all you're left with is sand that sinks in the time it takes you to count to five, after it's been stirred up.

 

[zain611]

have to remember that also i think i didnt clean it right also when i had sand i digged the gravel cleaner in it which i didnt know that i had to hover over it so this was one of the problems i had including that one main problem with the water being cloudy for the time i had it in there. it took me 4 hours to swap sand to gravel and it was a big difference to seeing it crystal clear afterwards with gravel

Also does every fish suit sand like sharks, plecs etc

 

[techen]

Playsand all the way, I never had a issue with sand messing up the fish tank SO LONG AS YOU WASH IT FIRST. That's a must else you'll sitting for days waiting for it.

 

[zain611]

I think it can depend on the filter like the tank i put sand in had a small aqua one 101f filter and the future tank i might get is on top of the aquarium so that small filter must take time to take in the particles also searched up that ruby sharks prefer sand as it protects their sensory fin