cory cat substrate

[yuanyichi]

is this gravel to sharp for small cories?

 

[Nils]

I have about the same grade gravel, that was a mistake. If I were you, I would get sand because they love to half bury themselves in it to look for food. Get sand my friend. I am changing soon too

 

[yuanyichi]

alright but how would i change the gravel if i have fish in right now...sorry im a newbie :/

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[aqua_holic]

Scoop it out with a big fish net. Make sure you support the net when removing it from the water.

You can pre wash the sand so that when you are ready to make the switch, all you have to do is put the fish in a bucket, drain the tank, add the sand, fill it up and then put the fish back in. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's not that bad. Most of your time an energy will be spent washing sand. If it's not cleaned well enough it can cause cloudy water so once you think it's clean, give it one more wash.

 

[agrasyuk]

another vote for sand.
i have a dozen of corys and they sure do love digging. and i sure love watching them dig its quite a view seeing entire herd lining up and combing through the sand spitting it out of their gills, stopping on occasion to chew on something tasty they found.

prewash playsand (home depot) or pool filter sand in a bucket. then again and again. helps doing smaller batches at a time. when you scoop it out and put in tank your water will get quite cloudy - it is not a problem. things will settle down within a day or two. you might observe bubbling first couple of weeks as trapped air escapes, that is quite ok too.

but beware, vacuuming substrate is very different with sand (i have planted tanks so i don't bother vacuuming to much)

 

[icydeath]

You could always go bare bottom but I recommend painting the outside of bottom so fish dont get light from underneath which can stress them..

in your current situation, it would be best to do what has been advised already. or depending on how thick your gravel layer is, you could clean the sand, drain the tank, and the sand over the gravel and mix it in so the gravel is sporadic and the substrate is mostly sand on top

 

[aqua_holic]

Bottom dwellers don't like bare bottom tanks.

Sand will never stay on top of gravel. It will drive all the gravel to the surface over time.

 

[Brookster123]

Bottom dwellers don't like bare bottom tanks.

All that rooting around is not just in their personality. .contrary to popular belief they're actually foraging for microorganisms or food.. they would totally stress out in a bare bottom tank. .

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[yuanyichi]

i have an internal filter so i dont think sand would work so i decided not to get the cories

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[aqua_holic]

Pebble/river rock is perfectly fine for Corys. You just don't want jagged pieces.

 

[yuanyichi]

but i thought they needed the sand to forage for food

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[aqua_holic]

They need smooth substrate.

 

[Katrinag]

I have had 12 panda cory catfish for almost a year now on Eco complete substrate and they are very happy.


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[yuanyichi]

would a pitbullpleco work for a 20 g

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[LobsterParty000]

I dont have any knowledge on this, but ising basic knowledge, u could probably scoop out some of the rocks from the top layer, take the decorations out, remove the fish, and pour a top layer of sand, let it cycle for a couple more days and let it settle, then add decor. And fish.

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[yuanyichi]

where would i put the fish thi

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[yuanyichi]

i dont have anothr tank

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[LobsterParty000]

Oh uhm..... maybe a couple buckets with an air pump and heater, it should probably take about a week or two.

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[fish wrangler]

Yuanyichi do you have an under gravel filter?

Placing sand ontop of rock will not work because the sand will work its way down through the rock, and you will be left with rock on top.

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[yuanyichi]

no i have an internl filter that hangs on the side into the tank..a tetra whisper 40 i think

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