I'm thinking about adding some cory catfish to on of my tanks (with guppies). I know that they require sand or unsharp gravel. I'm not really sure if this gravel in the tank would be okay for them or not? Can I have some input?
Gravel for Cory Cats?
- Thread starter Desi
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Slade
Aquarium Advice FINatic
That gravel will be ok. Glass gravel would not be good.
Thank you
I've heard about some types of gravel wearing down their barbles and it leading to infection. Just wanna be preparedJourReve08
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
maestromad
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've had corys in gravel and sand. And I have to say that I had the best response with sand much more natural exciting behaviour.
If you don't want to switch out all your gravel you could have a sand pit in there for them
If you don't want to switch out all your gravel you could have a sand pit in there for them
I actually have the exact same question! Does mine look okay? So excited to get cories
Totally fine
I like how you've decorated! To do this, do you just leave part of the aquarium as sand, or do you put it inside something and place it down?
maestromad
Aquarium Advice Addict
I think you can just move some of the gravel away and replace it with the sand, like an underwater beach!
thomasina
Aquarium Advice Freak
Not trying to steal the thread, but wondering if something like tupperware is okay? I see where glass is not good, but bowls, made of what? And where do you get just 2 cups of sand, and how deep? I have 4 cory in one tank and 2 in another. Thank you!
Jw, if I use play sand from Lowes or Home Depot, will that be okay? Here is the type of sand that I'm looking at:
http://homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-50-lb-Play-Sand-111351/100318476/
http://homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-50-lb-Play-Sand-111351/100318476/
maestromad
Aquarium Advice Addict
I believe so but you'll just have to make sure you wash it really well. I used aquarium sand for piece of mind personally but then I'm in the UK
Okay. The thing is though, I'm having trouble even finding sand specially for aquariums in my area. It's weird.
maestromad
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've seen alot of people use pool filter sand too
Rose22
Aquarium Advice Regular
That is exactly the sand I used in my tank. It works great! I love the look of it. It doesn't have the fake white look of pool filter sand and other sands. its just real tanish colored sand.
You have to wash it REALLY well. Make sure you rinse it until the water turns clear. You can clean it by putting it in a bucket and flood the bucket with a hose while mixing up the sand. If you put less sand in the bucket, so 1/4 full instead of 1/2 full, the water will become clear faster, but you will have to do more buckets to fill the tank. If you live somewhere cold, which I do, you can put some sand in an old pillowcase, and rinse it out in the tub. You basically beat the crazy out of the pillowcase while running the water on it until the water turns clear. I had to rinse each pillow case load about 4 times to get it completely clear, but once I got it in the tank and added water, the water had completely cleared in about half an hour.
If you want to try to add the sand to your tank without having to take all the fish etc, you could try the technique I saw on this youtube video.
How to clean new aquariumsand the easy way. - YouTube
I'd vacuum the gravel first, take out the gravel, and then try this technique to get cleaned sand into the tank. I think if you use a 2L pop bottle it would go really fast, but I've never tried this, so I can't say how well it works.
I have 100lbs of that sand in my 75g now. Great stuff and super cheap. A little dirty but the easiest way I've found to clean it is dump it in a pillow case and sick a hose in, stir till the water comes out clear.
When adding water to the tank put a small dish or tupperware lid down on the sand and pour the water on that.
I'm not sure where you can find such a small amount though for a little job like that.
When adding water to the tank put a small dish or tupperware lid down on the sand and pour the water on that.
I'm not sure where you can find such a small amount though for a little job like that.
Rose22
Aquarium Advice Regular
You can, but they are way cuter and more active in sand. In gravel, they just wiggle around the little stones. In sand, they actually dig and burrow. They are so cute in sand.
As for temp, it really depends on the exact species you have, but 72-82 F is pretty typical.
Nikachu0315
Aquarium Advice Freak
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