made a mistake

[steeledarren]

hi ppl, just realised i made a mistake. my tank has been set up for two weeks, still cycling. the thing is i started by puttin in medium sized gravel, it cost quite a bit, i intended on keeping corys maybe 5 0r 6, but i hear they can get hurt on gravel, is this true?, if so what can i do, i dont want to get rid of my gravel just yet as i spent alot of money on it, is there any way of making it safe, if not are there any other types of peacefull bottom dwelling fish i could get a school of instead, thankyou

 

[Viper]

Well I'm not sure if it will actually "hurt" them, but I know others have said that they lose their "barbels" on the gravel because they are constantly scouring the bottom for food. Sand is a much better substrate for them. You could possibly try otto's.

 

[HN1]

How sharp is the gravel? Have a pic?

 

[PaulieFish]

My suggestion, that is depending if you would rather keep the corys or the gravel.

Keeping Corys:

Go to your local pool store and buy some filter pool sand. And keep the gravel for your next tank (because there will be one)

Keeping gravel:

Graigslist, Aquabid, LFS.

I would just switch the substrate, PFS (pool filter sand) is very cheap and very amazing from what I hear. I am currently using just normal Play Sand (3 bucks from my Home Depot woot woot). But most enjoy PFS.

Or then again maybe you can keep both. I just know corys are diggers, and I dont think gravel is the best for me.

 

[JustOneMore20]

If the gravel is rounded, it should be fine. If its not too small of gravel, just make sure you vacuum up the nasties regularly or they could get infections of their barbels. Do you have pics of the gravel?

 

[joeynuna]

I have 4 Cory and gravel substrate. No problems.

 

[mctypething]

I have 4 corys and what I would call medium sized gravel. No issues at all and the corys are completely healthy. I think as long as the gravel isn't really big, or sharp, you're okay. I've read the test is if you could throw a piece of the gravel at a window and the window would break, your gravel is probably too big.

 

[Viper]

I have 4 corys and what I would call medium sized gravel. No issues at all and the corys are completely healthy. I think as long as the gravel isn't really big, or sharp, you're okay. I've read the test is if you could throw a piece of the gravel at a window and the window would break, your gravel is probably too big.

I dont think that "test" is very practical lol

 

[PaulieFish]

Hey it makes sense though doesnt it.. if you have doughts the window may break.. I think you should pick something else Do not really have experience with corys (Althought I want to get some) but if people have possitive results from medium size gravel, then you should be good.

 

[Viper]

Never said it didn't make sense, its just not very practical

 

[PaulieFish]

Never said it didn't make sense, its just not very practical

Hey I throw gravel at my windows all the time.. ::starts patching holes in windows::

Just kidding

 

[meegosh]

The main thing with cories is that if they lose their barbels then they cannot eat. I had some of the smaller gravel with sharp edges (when I was newbie, years ago) and it actually tore off the fins on some of my albino's. It took a while for them to grow back but they eventually did. I would HIGHLY recommend larger, smooth gravel if you want to go with gravel. If you do sand, your cories will thank you!

 

[Viper]

Hey I throw gravel at my windows all the time.. ::starts patching holes in windows::

Just kidding

HAHA note to self: do not throw gravel at windows. Not a good idea. I better tie a string to my finger to remember this as well

 

[steeledarren]

thanks guys i think i am gonna bite the bullet and get some childrens play sand, what is the best way to wash it?

 

[Viper]

thanks guys i think i am gonna bite the bullet and get some childrens play sand, what is the best way to wash it?

Ahh here is where I can really help. Get an old pillow case. Fill it about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up and run the sand under a faucet. Make sure the faucet is inside the pillow case running directly on the sand. At first, the water running out of the pillow case will be a yellow/tan color. Continue to mix the sand around with either your hand, or the pressure of the water. Eventually, the sand will run clear at which point you know it is good to put into your tank. It took me about 20-25 minutes per pillow case to get the water to run clear and give me the confidence to put it in the tank.

And there's no bullet that you will have to bite here. Sand is a much better and more natural substrate IMO!

 

[steeledarren]

thanks for the advice, now all i have to do is get the gravel out of my tank, its rather deep lol

 

[Etunes]

The main thing with cories is that if they lose their barbels then they cannot eat. I had some of the smaller gravel with sharp edges (when I was newbie, years ago) and it actually tore off the fins on some of my albino's. It took a while for them to grow back but they eventually did. I would HIGHLY recommend larger, smooth gravel if you want to go with gravel. If you do sand, your cories will thank you!

This could actually cause problems without proper maintenance. Because unlike small gravel you cant just push a vac into it. You have to lift them up. Gravel is not a problem, you just need to try to avoid sharp gravel.