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I'm planning to get some aquaclay for my cories, anybody has experience with them? i've read they are round and quite light.

Anybody using aquaclay In cory tank?:)

Hi, I don't know aquaclay?
I suppose that you'd have to make sure it's not sharp at all. Look at all the posts of corys missing barbels etc and also how they feed, kind of snuffling through the substrate all the time. I had sandy type stuff but it was way too sharp compared to the rounded sand I have now and just rubbing it in my palms should have told me the first sand was too sharp

Baby test: would you rub it on a baby cheek? Would it tickle or would you be terrified to even think it? And yes, this is only a mental question! No real babies were rubbed by any substrate in the answering of this question

L number Banana wrote:Hi, I don't know aquaclay?
I suppose that you'd have to make sure it's not sharp at all. Look at all the posts of corys missing barbels etc and also how they feed, kind of snuffling through the substrate all the time. I had sandy type stuff but it was way too sharp compared to the rounded sand I have now and just rubbing it in my palms should have told me the first sand was too sharp

Baby test: would you rub it on a baby cheek? Would it tickle or would you be terrified to even think it? And yes, this is only a mental question! No real babies were rubbed by any substrate in the answering of this question

lol thanks. The aquaclay should be really round. and its much lighter than sand. but still have not actually seen the aquaclay, just read about them lol .

Aquaclay isn't meant as a substrate that is exposed to fish, it tends to cloud the water column. It's more for planted tanks under a sand or gravel bed.

I'd stick with good sand.

Jeff

I haven't used that exact substrate with cories, but I've used a different sintered clay substrate, and as you can see in this photo of one of my cherry shrimp it looks much like aquaclay:
http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/specimens/ ... C_0868.jpg
(The shrimp is about 15 mm.)

It worked. Snails, cories, and shrimp all did well with it, and so did the plants, but not noticeably better than when I had sand. It is light, especially in the beginning, but it settles down within a week or so and after that it doesn't move. I'm not using it in my aquaria any more because the brick-red color made it hard to take natural-looking photos.

thanks. Already ordered them, but i will observe closely, if my cories barbel do not improve. I will switch to really fine sand since i was able to elevate my powerhead already. will post update here

Hi
I have it and use it. My tank has a 5-10 cm layer of it. IT IS meant to be used alone, without a cover of something else. It's mainly for planted tanks (and works very well!). NO clouding, NO problem with cory barbels. They have a very porous stucture and some grains take some time to sink (<0.1%). I can recommend it stroinlgy if you keep plants with cories.
One shop in Stockholm has it in EVERY tank. If the fish load is low without a filter!

KrA

I'm using Coralife FloraBase which I believe is a hard clay with rounded particles as the thin substrate I use in all my tanks.
I feel the fish appreciate some substrate but I only use enough to cover the bare bottom glass.
Here is some as used in my Corydoras hastatus breeding tank, a permanent set up. I periodically harvest them for sale and those removed are soon replaced.

I use the FloraBase, too. It's very forgiving for the Corydoras spp.-they can dig very deeply without much effort. I've even seen Tetras dig down a little ways without much effort. It does get a bit messy after a while, dust plumes, etc. These days, I mix it with sand. Works nicely. I don't use the "laterite clay" as a stand-alone.
Amanda

wow thanks still have not recieved the aquaclay i ordered will post update as soon as i get them.