Subtrate For Bottom Dwellers

[Hunterprey]

Hey Im just wondering do I need sand subtrate for my bottom dwellers? I have kuhlis, syno multipunctatus, Bumblebee cat, planning to get half banded spiny eel too, I have gravel right now, I seem to notice them trying to dig into it. Im afraid they might hurt themselves.

Will they be alright with gravel or do I have to switch to sand? And what sand is best to use and easy to clean or rinse? Thnx in advance

 

[ian]

sand is best, i use silica sand, however everyone on here seems to like argos kids play sand.

 

[kiriyama]

As previously stated tons of folks use argos play sand, i have sand from lfs , about 20kg for less than a tenner , so it doesn't really matter as long as you give it a good rinse before putting it in the tank, have fun watching them burrow

 

[KittyKat]

Sand. I used to buy mine from the Tesco garden department at 60p for 15 litres in white, it was the cheapest "play sand" they had.

 

[aly_starh]

I have corydora's in my community tank, i use Argos Play sand. Which is cheap 15kg=<£3

 

[The Other Lebowski]

i can't even imagine the misery a cory has to go through trying to sift through gravel. sifting is their life, that's what they do when they're not sleeping. having cories in a gravel tank is no better than stocking those dyed fish that everyone is so hyped about.

 

[bezzo89]

i dont mean to hijack the thread but...

i have a cory and three ancistrus at the moment in one of my tanks, i have noticed the cory's trying to dig and i am worried it will hurt its barbels.

The cory spends most his time on the floor but ancistrus are only on there when sometimes feeding is it worth getting sand?

And is sand harder to clean out? I use a siphon filter at the moment for my gravel

again sorry to hijack...

 

[KittyKat]

i dont mean to hijack the thread but...

i have a cory and three ancistrus at the moment in one of my tanks, i have noticed the cory's trying to dig and i am worried it will hurt its barbels.

The cory spends most his time on the floor but ancistrus are only on there when sometimes feeding is it worth getting sand?

And is sand harder to clean out? I use a siphon filter at the moment for my gravel

again sorry to hijack...

1) Corys are schooling, get at least another 4 of the same species if your tank allows it.

2) Corys sift through a fine substrate to get their food, their barbels will suffer if they do not have a fine substrate.

3) With sand, the mulch sits on top, so it is easy to get off with a syphon, but you have to be careful not to suck the sand up at the same time.

 

[bezzo89]

okay sounds like i am going to be getting some sandy substrate.

Is it okay to mix cory's? or should i get all the same ones e.g. all Julli?

thanks

P.s. i was going to p.m you rather than post more on here but i cant find out how to do it!

 

[aly_starh]

okay sounds like i am going to be getting some sandy substrate.

Is it okay to mix cory's? or should i get all the same ones e.g. all Julli?

thanks

P.s. i was going to p.m you rather than post more on here but i cant find out how to do it!

IME, it doesn't matter if they are not all the same type, they will shoal

To PM you need to have sent 30 posts

 

[bezzo89]

oh right okay that helps!

Okay thanks for that Betta!

 

[KittyKat]

Is it okay to mix cory's? or should i get all the same ones e.g. all Julli?

IME, it doesn't matter if they are not all the same type, they will shoal

IMO, it is nicer when they are; IME, it is better if they are, or are at least about the same size and have similar pattering (eg. julli and triliniatus).. altho it shouldn't be too much of a problem if they are different.

 

[bezzo89]

oh right okay, you see my lfs has recently got in some all black cory, but i wasnt too sure on them.

iv seen some tanks part substrate part gravel which if worked correctly look really good!

Has anyone on here done that and what issues if any did they have?

 

[KittyKat]

At one point, I kept my corys in 2/3 sand 1/3 pea gravel and that worked.

 

[Hunterprey]

Thnx for the responses,
so I guess I'll be switching to sand since that's the best for my bottom dwellers.

And yes it should be fun watching them burrow Im gonna look up those suggested sands.

Bezz no worries about the hijacking, hope u got the info ur looking for and good luck with ur cories