Planted tank for Cories

[FishieMomma]

I am desperate to get my Cories happy. I added plants to my tank to bring the nitrate down, which it did, but I suspect the black aquarium sand from CaribSea may be cutting their barbells off (like within Days).

i do have a thread on this in unhealthy but am asking specifically here if switching my substrate to an Eco-complete and pool filter sand combo would be the ideal substrate PLUS be the best for my plants.

 

[Scottyhorse]

I have ecocomplete and my corys are doing fine, although, I would think sand would be better then ecocomplete. Is there anything in there that could be biting their barbels?

 

[FishieMomma]

No. Angelfish, a blue gourami and 7 neon tetras. No inverts.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Corydoras

Hello jen...

Anything in your tank that is abrasive or sharp can injure a fish. I've kept Corydoras for several years and they don't require anything more than most aquarium fish.

I have my Corys in tanks with simple aquarium pea gravel and low lights. You may want to consider the pea gravel, but you don't need anything fancy. Pea gravel is polished and won't damage the barbels. I've found, they prefer close to a neutral pH at 7, but will adjust to more basic water. My pH is between 7.4 and 7.6, as long as the pH is pretty constant, the fish are fine.

Low light or a bit higher light with areas of shade and a lot of plants both planted and floating will make the Corys feel more comfortable. I have mostly Anubias, just sitting on the bottom and quite a bit of Anacharis and Pennywort floating. Mosses are very good too, I have Singapore in my tanks. I would avoid the Amazon swords, there is potential for the fish to get stuck in between the plant stocks and drown.

Corys are constant foragers and look in every tiny place for bits of food, so select decorations carefully. The fish need lots of room too, so I keep them in larger tanks.

Last, but not least, you should keep your Corys in pure water conditions. Large, weekly water changes will keep the water properties stable for these fish.

Just a couple of suggetions, there are always alternatives.

B

 

[FishieMomma]

Thanks.


I used to have aquarium gravel but I couldn't keep it clean enough (I think it was too deep) and he lost their barbels in that to. Is pea gravel different? Other than that it's just wood and plants.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Corys

Thanks.


I used to have aquarium gravel but I couldn't keep it clean enough (I think it was too deep) and he lost their barbels in that to. Is pea gravel different? Other than that it's just wood and plants.

Hello again...

Pea gravel is nothing special. It's the substrate sold in bags at the pet store. You just need to get the smaller, "pea-size". The pebbles are polished and though the pieces are different sizes, there's nothing sharp or rough.

Actually, the bits of plant and fish material that build up in the gravel is very beneficial. Your plants use it as nutrients. Everything eventually dissolves in the tank water, so all that's needed is to remove and replace the water regularly.

B

 

[Rivercats]

Cory's almost always lose their barbels from less than ideal water quality. How often do you do WC's and how much water do you change out? Do you know your water readings from ammonia/nitrite/nitrates? Also do you know your phosphate level? Once their barbels deteriorate it takes time for them to grow back. So depending on how high your nitrates were and are now that could be your issue. Nitrates should never be above 20ppms.

 

[Oceangirl]

I have my cories on Tahitian moon sand and they are doing fine. Are you cleaning the sand very well with each water change? Do you have MTS snails for clean up?

 

[FishieMomma]

I clean it up as well as possible. It's black aquarium sand so I shows stuff well and I vacuum thoroughly.

I don't get how they could die in two days and lose their barbels, too.

I turned the temp down. To 78° to see if it helps the little guy.

 

[FishieMomma]

Also parameters were perfect: 0, 0, 5 (it's a planted tank.)

Several major water changes before and after they were introduced to make triple sure it was good. My other fish show no problems.

 

[FishieMomma]

Sorry, one more thing... I do not have any MTS.

 

[Zimmanski]

Just my little input, I very much doubt it was the sand as well. I have barbel fish with that same sand and doesn't cause any problems at all, and I have my Cory's in sand that's more rough than the caribsea too so I wouldn't jump to change your substrate too quick

 

[FishieMomma]

Now that I've stirred up the sand I may make one more attempt at Cories as the last one still looks fine - just lonely.

 

[Zimmanski]

Now that I've stirred up the sand I may make one more attempt at Cories as the last one still looks fine - just lonely.

You don't need MTS or need to stir the sand. The reason you would need to stir up sand is if you had a really deep sand bed and anaerobic pockets started showing up. Just a good gavel vac hovering close to the sand should be fine and Cory's should pick up any leftover food. In my experience Cory's can be pretty sensitive to water quality, you really just have to keep trying and keep up with maintenance. I've never been able to keep juliis for long but I have one left and a shoal of pandas that have done great, which pandas are supposedly the more sensitive of the two, you just never know.

 

[Oceangirl]

Try a different store. I can only get neon tetras from one store where I am at. I tried all store around me about 5. Cories can be funny that way too, are you getting them the day they arrive? I have MTS because I have a semi-deep bed. I have 25 lbs sand in 29 gallon. Some bag of Carribea Sand also has bigger chucks in it. I made sure to look at all the bag and got one with only finer particles.