Can I keep corydoras catfish in this gravel?

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Gravel tears up their barbels and can lead to infections so sand is preferable.

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Tough to tell from the pic, is it rough gravel or smooth round pea gravel?

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Keeping Corydoras

Hello elec...

I've kept Corydoras in tanks with just pea-sized polished gravel for roughly 10 years. Some of my Corys on going on 6 years old. So, yours shouldn't have a problem with a similar bottom material. As long as there are no sharp edges in the material, the fish should be fine.

I was told to avoid sand, because it can become compacted and voids or open spaces can cause water chemistry problems, so I've never used it. Gravel is much easier to keep clean and there's more water circulation for the roots of my plants. I keep these fish in larger tanks with well planted bottom areas and change half the water in the tanks about every week. I feed them a varied diet and they seem to grow pretty well.

B
 
BBradbury said:
I was told to avoid sand, because it can become compacted and voids or open spaces can cause water chemistry problems
Click to expand...

The super fine "sugar" sands could compact,but I've never experienced it. Sands like pool filter sand or tahitian moon do not.
The rest was proven to be myth I've always used sand, from play sand to pool filter sand and never had chemistry problems ever.

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Using Pea-sized Gravel

electromango said:
The gravels pea sized and very smooth/round. Is this good?
Click to expand...

Hello again elec...

The gravel should be fine. If you need to clean it, a standard syphon will work. The gravel just rises and falls back in place and the organic material is easily vacuumed up and removed.

B
 
I think the idea of Corys losing their barbels to gravel is a bit of an old wives tale. Just one of the many things in this hobby that get repeated so often that people stop questioning it.
I read an article TFH some months ago that dispelled this and made claim that poor water conditions are more likely to blame for this problem. True, it's only one article, but the author bred various types of Corys and actually tried out various substrates (gravel, sand, "planting substrate", dirt, etc) and could not observe any significant impact on their barbels with any of them. He did note, however, that when his Corys did lose their barbels poor water chemistry was typically the root of the problem.



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My cories in my 26 gallon with gravel are doing great and have no signs of damage.


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Thanks everyone :)

All of this feedback is very reassuring and helpful. So can I keep 4 or do I need 6 for a proper school? Thanks again
 
Sharp substrate will erode the barbels of corys. However the vast majority of substrate does not do this. The only one I've ran into so far that will is black diamond blasting sand which, while it's a nice looking black sand, is absurdly sharp. The corys I put in there had their barbels worn away in the matter of a week.

90% of the time any issues with cory cat's barbels is coming from water quality issues rather than the substrate. Keep the tank clean and you won't have any issues with that choice of substrate.
 
Mebbid said:
Sharp substrate will erode the barbels of corys. However the vast majority of substrate does not do this. The only one I've ran into so far that will is black diamond blasting sand which, while it's a nice looking black sand, is absurdly sharp. The corys I put in there had their barbels worn away in the matter of a week.

90% of the time any issues with cory cat's barbels is coming from water quality issues rather than the substrate. Keep the tank clean and you won't have any issues with that choice of substrate.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I have had panda cories on that exact sand for over a year and have no barbel issues. I suppose in had different granule sizes, but I know other people who use it with cories too and they have not issues either. I suppose you may have used a different granule size though.
 
absolutangel04 said:
FWIW, I have had panda cories on that exact sand for over a year and have no barbel issues. I suppose in had different granule sizes, but I know other people who use it with cories too and they have not issues either. I suppose you may have used a different granule size though.
Click to expand...

From what I can tell the mixes are different. The stuff I got had sharp bits of stuff in it. My hand got pierced a few times when I was vigorously cleaning it.
 
Mebbid said:
From what I can tell the mixes are different. The stuff I got had sharp bits of stuff in it. My hand got pierced a few times when I was vigorously cleaning it.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. I imagine a barbel could get damaged on something that could pierce human skin.
 
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