Hi - New cory keeper with a sand question

Pandas1st · Post by **Pandas1st** » 15 Feb 2012, 22:39

Hello. I am a first time cory owner but have been keeping fish for 5 years. I’ve been mining this site for a couple of weeks now but still have some questions and hope you all would have the answers.

I recently got a chance to buy some panda corys at wholesale price ($1.85) and because I have been thinking of getting corys, I jumped at the chance and bought ten even though the (mature) tank I had for them has a small, rounded gravel substrate.

I want to put in a sand substrate and bought Carib Sea Sunset Gold which has grains from 0.1mm to 0.4 mm. Now that I have it, I wonder if it is too fine for the pandas. Should I save it for the Pygmy cory tank I am now planning or is there no such thing as “too fine” for cory sand?

Another question: I love planted tanks and use Eco-Complete in my other tanks. I know how small particles interact with large, so that the large end up on top. But I was wondering if I put down half an inch of Eco Complete and covered it with an inch of sand, would I end up with a half inch of sand over the mixed sand/Eco Complete as the bottom half inch of sand sifts down to the bottom of the Eco Complete. Not sure if I am making that clear. Sorry.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any advice or information.

(The tank the corys are in has been a WCMM species tank for two years. I have a large Marineland filter (an Emperor if I remember correctly) at one end and a much smaller but powerful filter at the other end for good circulation and oxygenation. I am keeping the tank at 72F and feeding earthworm flake, Prime flake from Angels Plus, dried daphnia, dried bloodworm, live baby brine shrimp, decapped brine shrimp eggs, frozen adult brine shrimp,live black worm, spirulina flake, with the two flakes being the most frequent foods, all of which they seem to love. So far, they have ignored algae wafers and vegetable wafers; not sure why.)

Coriequest · Post by **Coriequest** » 16 Feb 2012, 06:11

I want to know too! From what I've read the most important thing is that it is smooth...as in polished into softness by time. Thinking that will be hard to find. Definitely interested in hearing about it here!

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 16 Feb 2012, 12:51

I do not believe that the sand can be "to fine" for cories with grain size of 0,1 - 0,4 mm. I have not been to SA, but several friends have, and on pics that are readily available on the net of their habitat, the substrate some times resembles clay, which will be even finer than 0,1 mm grain size.

Sand from rivers and estuaries will most often have that "polished softness" from nature, and it is important that the sand used is not "grinded" artificially from larger material, as that will leave sharp edges. Also it is important that the sand is not crushed coral or filled with remains of i.e. mollusks and snails, as that can influence water parameters.

I did the mistake of mizing fine gravel and river sand once, and yes, the gravel migrated to the top, even though it took quite a while.

Pandas1st · Post by **Pandas1st** » 16 Feb 2012, 18:26

Thanks for your reply, Allan. I hoped that would be the case. Further research also tells me that this sand is fine in terms of smoothness - at least a few people here use it in their cory tanks. I am going to mix a handful of the current gravel into the sand for a more natural look.

Coriequest - It looks like we're good to go.

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 16 Feb 2012, 19:01

The only thing i'd add is that if the sand is particularly fine, do not have it too deep where it can compact.

Pandas1st · Post by **Pandas1st** » 16 Feb 2012, 19:10

Thaks, Richard. I was going to do about half an inch which seems to be commonly recommended on this site.

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 16 Feb 2012, 19:24

Pandas1st wrote:Thaks, Richard. I was going to do about half an inch which seems to be commonly recommended on this site.

From personal experience, i find that depth to work well. I use senegal sand from Unipac. http://www.unipacpet.com/ but not all of their range is suitable for corys

Pandas1st · Post by **Pandas1st** » 16 Feb 2012, 20:19

Unipac has some nice looking sand or sure. Unfortunately I am in the USA. But thanks for the tip!

Allan · Post by **Allan** » 16 Feb 2012, 20:38

In my breeding tanks I have only 1/5 inch. In my "stock tanks" however, i have it deeper, and inch or so, even a little more. That will allow some plants, i.e. Vallisneria, to grow. In those tanks I have "trompet snails" (Melanoides tuberculata, I think). They seem to keeps it from compacting and forming anaerobic areas.

Pandas1st · Post by **Pandas1st** » 16 Feb 2012, 22:32

Right now their tank has a large (6 inches across) clump of Java fern, two smaller clumps of it, some Java moss, and a six inch length of hornwort that I know from experience grows like crazy in that tank - I have thrown away huge amounts of it over the past two years. In another tank I have val and will try some with the pandas. I also have (in other tanks), a nice crypt (forgotten which one - it's bronze colored), Windelov's fern, Annubias, Red Ludwigia, and water lettuce (another one I throw away huge amounts of). I might try those (or some of them) also when I redo the tank with sand.

Thanks again for the tips.

MrGT500 · Post by **MrGT500** » 17 Feb 2012, 04:58

i have 4 panda corys and 2 peppered corys in my 20 gallon community tank, i have always used gravel only because i have heard sand is harder to clean and im afraid my Emporor 400 will suck it up and destroy my filter. the gravel is whatever petco has and it doesnt seem to bother them any. (they clean it all day long) i use plastic and silk plants in my tanks only because i dont have the time to care for live plants, but i have found that pileing the gravel around the base of the plants and leaving the open areas with only an inch or so of substrate works well. i also have a cling background on the tank that doesnt reach all the way to the bottom so the gravel is about 3 inches deep in the back of the tank. so maybe you could do somthing similar with your plants.

Coursair · Post by **Coursair** » 17 Feb 2012, 17:28

I use sand in all my planted tanks now. My C habrosus love it. I'm using Tahitian Moon Sand ( black) from CaribSea. I just add root tabs for my Crypts and Swords. I also use Malaysian Trumpet Snails to aerate.
My plants grow well and my wee Cories love it.

Pandas1st · Post by **Pandas1st** » 21 Feb 2012, 19:27

Thanks all for the continued suggestions. I have still not made the switch to sand but plan to next weekend. I will change out about 1/3 of the gravel from the front-center of the tank and fill that hole with sand.