Can you have bottom feeders with gravel?

[RightTurnClyde]

I am new to the hobby and in the middle of cycling a 10 gallon tank. Right now my tank has a gravel substrate. Blue/green multicolored basic stuff from Petco. If I knew what I know now, I probably would have gone with sand, but for now, it's staying gravel.

Are there any corydoras or shrimp that would be OK with a rough, gravel bottom? It seems that every description of corys I read say that they should be in sand so they don't damage their barbels. And shrimp seem to like to sift through the sand as well. I like the idea of having a small, peaceful cleaning crew in there, once I can add more fish. And I'd rather not deal with snails.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[Mr. Nowhere]

I am new to the hobby and in the middle of cycling a 10 gallon tank. Right now my tank has a gravel substrate. Blue/green multicolored basic stuff from Petco. If I knew what I know now, I probably would have gone with sand, but for now, it's staying gravel.

Are there any corydoras or shrimp that would be OK with a rough, gravel bottom? It seems that every description of corys I read say that they should be in sand so they don't damage their barbels. And shrimp seem to like to sift through the sand as well. I like the idea of having a small, peaceful cleaning crew in there, once I can add more fish. And I'd rather not deal with snails.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Is it rough gravel or the small rounded gravel? I have cories and shrimp with the small rounded gravel and they are all doing great.

 

[NinjaTetra]

Let me point out, in freshwater there isnt really what you would call a cleaning crew. If you are looking for something to clean scraps, 2-10 shrimp will do fine in gravel. And unless you have extremely coarse rough gravel, it depends more on your quality and fin rot how the barbels are doing with corys. You could try pygmy corys, they stay super small and dont hang at the bottom the entire time.

 

[tnfinfan]

I've never had sand and always had cories. With barbels intact. Even in the under gravel filtered tank, they did fine. Honestly, I question some of the care instructions out there. Good water quality is what matters most. I'm sure the gravel you have is fine. Rough gravel is the sort you'd find in a rockslide area or a driveway. The stuff sold at the shops is tumbled and quite smooth. The tricky part will be finding the dwarf species of corydoras so there is room for a shoal because they really do much better in a group.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Good news. Thanks! I really like the look of some of the small corydoras. But some cherry shrimp look like they would be fun too. Just need to get through the "patience" phase.