Bottom-dwellers that will do well with my rough gravel?

[annewaldron]

IME i have never experienced a giant build up of gas pockets because my cories sifted through the sand and my cichlids digging also stirred it up. If ur not going to have a lot of movement in ur substrate just be cautious about them. I changed my gravel out all at the same time and put sand in leaving a little water which carried some bacteria in it. I let my fish sit in a QT tank while i let it do a mini cycle for about 30 hours.

I guess the thing I worry about is what if the mini-cycle went longer than 30 hours? I was reading on another forum how this person's mini-cycle went for almost 2 weeks. Not that my QT wouldn't be a safe place, but I'm sure my fish would be a little stressed.

 

[mikeISright]

I think if u left enough water in the tank you would be ok. Just remember to rinse the sand thoroughly. VERY important. And if u keep ur substrate very clean as well as ur tank (meaning water changes) i would say u would be ok. Thats my experience at least. What kind of fish?

 

[annewaldron]

I think if u left enough water in the tank you would be ok. Just remember to rinse the sand thoroughly. VERY important. And if u keep ur substrate very clean as well as ur tank (meaning water changes) i would say u would be ok. Thats my experience at least. What kind of fish?

I have espei rasboras and Trilineatus corys and will be adding black neon tetras.

I'm starting to panic that the sand sitting on top of the gravel will encourage trapped gasses down in the gravel.

Should I just plan for a total substrate change at some point and forget this half and half plan?

 

[mikeISright]

Yes i would probably forget the half and half idea. I think all of those fish should be fine if u have a mini cycle occur. Just remember when u put the sand down not to make it super thick and to make sure u move it around to prevent pockets! Goodluck

 

[annewaldron]

Yes i would probably forget the half and half idea. I think all of those fish should be fine if u have a mini cycle occur. Just remember when u put the sand down not to make it super thick and to make sure u move it around to prevent pockets! Goodluck

And just to double-confirm, plants grow OK in sand?

 

[mikeISright]

Im pretty sure they do.. Although i have never kept live plants because i keep cihlids that dig them up. If u need anymore help feel free to PM me

 

[RobbieHadley]

And just to double-confirm, plants grow OK in sand?

Yes but make sure you have trumpet snails to aerate the sand bed to make sure the roots get all the nutrients they need.

 

[annewaldron]

Yes but make sure you have trumpet snails to aerate the sand bed to make sure the roots get all the nutrients they need.

Oh I have plenty of those!

 

[mikeISright]

It seems like you have it down. Let us know what you tried and how it worked!

 

[RobbieHadley]

It seems like you have it down. Let us know what you tried and how it worked!

Agreed cant wait to hear how it turns out

 

[MarioMarimo]

I would just like to say that I don't believe that all eco-complete are created equal. I purchased the Red EC and it is very sharp and angular volcanic rock. I don't know if the black is the same, but I didn't want to take the chance with the red EC being to sharp for cories, so I put the cories in another of my tanks. Other people have reported keeping cories on EC fine, but this is just my experience. My plants love it though.

Also, I have been doing a lot of research on black aquarium sand because I wanted black sand for my rili shrimp tank. A warning on tahitian moon Carbisea sand: I read a horror story about a critter ingesting some of this sand and a sharp piece punctured its intestine (revealed in autopsy). If you have seen this sand, it is amazingly sparkly and pretty. However, this leads me to believe that it is angular, possibly crushed glass or obsidian or something.

FYI: A warning about Tahitian moon sand - Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum

Personally, I would love to see the material or type of rock which composes the gravel/sand printed on the bag.

 

[mikeISright]

Honetly i think your overrhinking this. Cories do fine on gravel or sand. Sand is better for their barbels but most fish wont swallow sand so i dont know why that story turned you away? Just get the EC or sand or both. In the end your cories will enjoy their new home.

 

[annewaldron]

Just checking back in here to say that I haven't yet undertaken the substrate change challenge. Someone I know who keeps a lot of planted tanks warned me the plants don't grow quite as well in sand, or at least they don't grow quite in the same way. She said that my plants would rely more on fertilizers and root tabs than the ability to use the natural fertilizer that comes in the form of detritus, due to the small particle size of sand, and the relative inability for the detritus to sift down through the sand in the same way that it can through gravel to get to the roots. I just wasn't sure that I wanted to make a hasty change considering that I have so many plants in my tank right now.

So I think I'm going to think on this and do some more reading before I make a big change. So far my corys seem to be doing okay, although I did lose one last week. He seemed to be exhausted, for lack of a better term, and I found him floating on several occasions up to the top. No other signs of illness or disease or parasites. He would seem to recover for a day or so, and then I would find him floating again. His barbels seemed to be in okay shape, so I couldn't really attribute it to this. I actually have another cory who I'm keeping an eye on whose barbels seem a little bit shortened.


So far my observations lead me to believe that I don't think this EcoComplete lava-like gravel is quite the best environment for these little guys.

 

[MarioMarimo]

more 2 cents: I keep plants in sand just fine. It is actually very coarse sand/granule size (i.e. between 1-3 mm). I have MTS to aerate and stir up the sand and I put Flourish root tabs in the sand for the plants to have more nutrients. I don't keep carpet plants, but my crypts don't mind the sand at all. good luck with your decision.