Any advice on creating a sand area for Cory's?

[joany]

I have a planted 55 gallon tank with eco complete substrate. Just got 6 panda cities over the weekend, and am now feeling a little bummed that they don't have a sand substrate. Do not want to redo the entire substrate bit wondering if it's possible to make a sanded area for them. Has anyone ever done this? Is there black sand that would blend a bit with my dark substrate? Thanks for your time and advice!


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[doctordamen]

I read somewhere of a guy that had a sand section in his tank with success. He used rocks and wood to create a natural barrier to divide the two substrates, and also the sand section was lower so when the sand was stirred up it would settle in the low spot.

I'm thinking of doing something similar

Good luck!


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[joany]

So we tried creating a beach for the Cory's last night. We cleared out a section of the gravel in a corner, the cut out some plastic water jugs to create a "wall" on the other end. Then we mounded river rocks to provide more of a barrier. Who knows if we'll be able to keep it from mixing in the long term, but the Corys immediately started hanging out there. Here's what it looks like today.


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[Stacey W.]

That looks super cool! I've been curious about trying something like that for my corys. But I'm worried my loaches would ruin it. They move my river rocks rooting around. I can only imagine the mess they would make with sand.

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[joany]

That looks super cool! I've been curious about trying something like that for my corys. But I'm worried my loaches would ruin it. They move my river rocks rooting around. I can only imagine the mess they would make with sand.

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Wow, Stacey, we just have little fish, can't imagine them pushing river rocks around! So far, everyone seems to like the sand patch and the corys are napping there right now, in a little pile. They are goofy.


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[Stacey W.]

Awesome! I also have 6 panda corys that I have had for 2 years they like a family.

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[Eggheadfish]

Looks great! Keeping cories happy is always rewarding

 

[FishyMamma]

That looks beautiful! Really nice.

I'm curious, why did you need to create the Cory beach in the first place? Do Cories not do well on EC?

I'm really interested in your answer. I put in EC mixed with 30%ish black aquarium sand. It looks great, but I'm hoping to put Cories in. They've been the species I've planned around, in fact.

How this mix looks, by the way since you are considering it:





Keeping my sleeves wet...

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[joany]

I love your tank! Feels very primordial. People on this forum and at LFS said that eco complete was OK for corys, that the main thing is to keep it fairly clean. But then we watched too many cute videos on YouTube of corys snuffling around in the sand and huffing sand out through their gils. So then I felt like ours were deprived... From there it was a short leap to Cory Beach! They still go all over the tank but I think the sandy part is their home base though, and I like that they have options.
So, I think you'd be fine with the substrate you've got.


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[TankinWithUs]

If you have video of your cory playing, I'd love to see! That sounds so cute