Eco Complete Rough for Cories?

[Bettafanatic]

So I have eco complete substrate in my 38 gallon tank. Right now I have three red wag platies (still cycling) and in the future I plan to get some panda cory catfish.

I was going to get sand for them but then someone told me not to so in the end I never got the sand. Now I regret it because my cories would've loved some sand.

My questions are:

1. Is eco complete too rough for cories? Will it damage their barbels in any way? Or do some cories have tougher barbels than others?

2. Do you think I could manage to add sand on top now? The tank is all set up and the plants are planted and everything, so it would be very difficult, but do you think I can do it? But even if I can I might not because it'd probably cause plenty of problems.

Thanks!

 

[aqua_chem]

For every person that blames their substrate for their cories' barbel erosion, theres another person that has never had a problem with the same substrate. This suggests to me that barbel erosion is likely more of a case of poor tank hygiene. It may very well not be a problem if you maintain your aquarium well.

 

[VioletEmber]

For every person that blames their substrate for their cories' barbel erosion, theres another person that has never had a problem with the same substrate. This suggests to me that barbel erosion is likely more of a case of poor tank hygiene. It may very well not be a problem if you maintain your aquarium well.

I absolutely agree with this. Through research and my own trial and error, I am leaning heavily towards the water quality side of the debate. Any time my cories lost their barbels, it turned out to be a water quality issue and when I fixed it, they grew back every time, no matter what the substrate was. They seem to be very susceptible to nitrates being too high.

 

[Bettafanatic]

That's good to hear. Thank you!

 

[Borderlesscott]

I just replaced my Eco Substrate - hated it! Silted up really badly and just looked dirty all the time.

 

[jetajockey]

I have kept them on eco with no issue. The substrate lasted about 2 years before it broke down.

 

[Bettafanatic]

It'll break down eventually? Gee, can't wait for that.

 

[jetajockey]

It'll break down eventually? Gee, can't wait for that.

All of the fired clay planted tank substrates do eventually. I've yet to run across a fired clay gravel type substrate in the wild. A couple, or several years isn't too bad, can't expect it to last forever.

The benefits far outweigh the negatives IMO.

 

[Borderlesscott]

I replace mine after just a few months, it was driving me crazy! I've just switched to black Zanzibar sand, so far so good.

 

[Bettafanatic]

How do you even replace substrate? Wouldn't you have to take everything out of the tank and completely drain it to do so? Is it hard? I know this is off topic from my original question but I'm just interested.

 

[Cynic]

For every person that blames their substrate for their cories' barbel erosion, theres another person that has never had a problem with the same substrate. This suggests to me that barbel erosion is likely more of a case of poor tank hygiene. It may very well not be a problem if you maintain your aquarium well.

100% this.

Nitrate equals barbel erosion. Non razor sharp substrate does not.

 

[KevinM]

Changing substrate is kind of easy,

Turn off your heater!(some people forget this and kill the heater)
take fish out
take plants out
drain get really sick about the stuff left in tank, I clean and clean my tank but when I went from gravel to sand, gross! It was bad
Rinse new stuff
take out old
put in new,
add treated water,
add plants add fish get ready for a mini cycle

My tank did not cycle again due to my over kill filter, but it does happen if you change it all at once you can also take some glass put in your substrate and replace 1/3 at a time wait a week or 2 then do another

 

[xwesx1978]

Ive had a colony of albino cory's on eco for over a year and they are very happy and healthy

 

[Bettafanatic]

Changing substrate is kind of easy,

Turn off your heater!(some people forget this and kill the heater)
take fish out
take plants out
drain get really sick about the stuff left in tank, I clean and clean my tank but when I went from gravel to sand, gross! It was bad
Rinse new stuff
take out old
put in new,
add treated water,
add plants add fish get ready for a mini cycle

My tank did not cycle again due to my over kill filter, but it does happen if you change it all at once you can also take some glass put in your substrate and replace 1/3 at a time wait a week or 2 then do another

Oh okay. Thanks for explaining. I think some day I will switch to sand but for now I'll stick with eco complete because so far I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[trueblu8]

I have kept them on eco with no issue. The substrate lasted about 2 years before it broke down.

What does it break down into? Mud? Would crushed up lava rocks do that?

Also to those of you that have your cories on eco complete do you feed them anything special besides what you feed the rest of your fish? The reason I ask is because I have eco complete and am experiencing barbel erosion now on my juliis. I am trying to determine if it is because of poor water quality, poor diet, or both.

 

[xwesx1978]

Just flake and algae wafers and zero barbel erosion on my little guys

 

[trueblu8]

Thanks for the quick reply. What brand of algae wafers do you feed? I just put in a hikari algae wafer the other day and it is all gone! Usually I put it in a little dish or something because there will always be leftovers and I don't want to pollute the tank or anything but this time they devoured the whole thing! Problem is I don't know if the juliis actually got any of it. It's quite possible that the shrimp, guppies, and ottos may have devoured it all. I will put another one in tomorrow and try to watch and see if the juliis go towards it.

 

[xwesx1978]

I think its tetra brand that I have , they love them

 

[bkiggy]

My 7 Cory's eat blanched vegetables, shrimp pellets, Thera-A, frozen brine shrimp, frozen salmon,;