Sandpatch enough for cory's?

[ramond86]

Hi I am Ramon and recently set up a tank (150L) with a group of seven Corydoras trilineatus. I divided the Tank in an open sand patch (1/3 of total substrate coverage) surrounded by large rocks to avoid mixed substrates. Outside of this open patch I have a planted substrate layer of fine (normal) gravel mixed with some larger gravel stones to facilitate better plant growth. I know cory's prefer sandy bottoms and I don't want them to damage their barbs. On the other hand replacing all the gravel will be lots of stress and might also have a bad effect on the tank and other fish and plants. My question:

Is the sandy part of the tank enough or does my current setup put the health of my cory's at a serious risk?

Thanks, Ramon

[Supercorygirl]

I would worry about the gravel, I had used similiar before and noticed barbels being worn off with the sharp edges. I removed it and used playsand instead and the barbels grew back. Granted I had a full gravel bottom when this happened not a split, so it may work but I would add to the sandy part. With it being a light color and so open they may just stay at the back on the gravel. Adding some small plants and some cover/hides as well as possibly a black sand to mix into the light sand should help draw them out more onto the sand. All in all it does look beautiful btw.

[CoryfanAad]

I'd say it is enough. Your gravel don't look sharp to me. Funny thing is that the Corys I adopted from tanks with gravel are the ones with the longest barberls. Barbelloss is caused by bacterial infections due to bad water / possible scratches by real sharp gravel.

[ramond86]

Thanks for the quick replies! My cory's already spend much of the time on the sand, especially because that is the place where I feed them (sinking tablets, bloodworms etc), and they are sifting through it to find scraps long afterwards. When they are resting they move onto the gravel to hide between the plants or under the bog-wood, so adding some hiding places on the sand would probably work to make them spend more time on soft substrate. I would also be curious to hear if anybody else has experience with a mixed sand/gravel setup, and whether that makes a big difference with a pure gravel tank.

[Supercorygirl]

I'd say it is enough. Your gravel don't look sharp to me. Funny thing is that the Corys I adopted from tanks with gravel are the ones with the longest barberls. Barbelloss is caused by bacterial infections due to bad water / possible scratches by real sharp gravel.

Yours looks well rounded but his when I enlarged his pic looked like sharp edges. When I had similiar gravel, I had my water checked as well as treated the tank for infection, thinking along the same lines. It wasn't till a fellow cory nut was over for a fish sale pointed out my gravel was the issue the I was able to correct. At the time it was my second batch of albinos and were they ever enthusiastic rooters. But again just my experiences, which as always differs from others lol. I've been told recently by other fish fanatics most of tank stocking should never work with the mixtures I've had over the years but somehow they do lol. My recommendations for the sand patch were just to lure the corys out and about for admiration. Still struggling myself on a few tanks to make some of my shyer corys come out.

[ramond86]

The gravel in your picture looks less sharp than mine indeed, although I would be afraid that lots of debris would get stuck between these larger stones (which I heard could also be bad for the cory's). My substrate is the typical small gravel you see in lots of aquaria, and the sand is playsand, so at least part of my tank is save ;). Anyways, the reason to put in some gravel is to promote plant growth, and I was hoping to offer a good addition to the setup with the large sand patch. I will have to keep a close eye on my cory's and watch carefully for any barb damage. So far they all have their barbs intact, but I will have to switch to full sand substrate as soon as they start to get damaged. That will be a difficult exercise though

[CoryfanAad]

I seriously get your worries supercorygirl but I don't think this stuff is a problem. Overhere (Holland) there often is "panic" about gravel. What I'd like to say is that too me it isn't a big problem as often thought, butttttttt Corys do like sand more to scavage (whole head in) let it "flow" through there gills aso. That's why I only have two tanks (for years) with the old gravel and 6 with poolfiltersand !!! All doing great as you can see. Cheers Aad