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one of my Peppered Cories. I think i might have 3 males. They all have a high and pointy dorsal fin, tthey are all the same size-weight, and colors are all the same. but i think they are still young. I am no expert at all, just going by what i have read so far..

Hi Colleen

I can't really tell if this is a male or female yet - it looks very healthy. You may wish to look at changing out that gravel for sand - it looks quite harsh and the corys may seriously damage their barbles over time.

Hope that helps,

Jools

I'd agree with Jools - that is a really good looking & healthy peppered cory

It would really thrive over a fine sand substrate as opposed to angular small gravel

the substrate is sand. it was the only sand i could find. does it look too rough? crap, i don't know how to switch this stuff out..

ColleenT wrote:the substrate is sand. it was the only sand i could find. does it look too rough? crap, i don't know how to switch this stuff out..

It's not too hard. You can actually siphon it out into a sieve and put the water back in and repeat until it's all out. Then just add rinsed sand. Alternatively siphon out as much water as you can into a big container, remove decorations and shovel it out with a kids plastic shovel or similar kitchen utensil.

Selecting sand is a local thing - suggest you search the forum or maybe someone more local to you will give some local recommendation for cory-safe sand.

All of that said, I am guessing you are not using an undergravel filter because they don't work with sand...

Cheers,

Jools

thank you. i got this sand at Petco. Not many LFS around here. I will try to find some. My issue is moving the fish out while i do this. i have a full tank of plants and fish and i don't want them to suffer while i get the sand out and replace it. i guess i can set up my 10 gallon and put them in there until i get this tranferred out. Ugh. what a mess. it's not super deep, so maybe i can just add good sand to the top? or would that be a problem? no underground filter. I have the hang-on-the-back type. What upsets me is- i got sand b/c i wanted Cories. Now i have the wrong sand.

it must be frsutrating especially as you've tried to do the right thing for the Corys. Got any rivers nearby? Sometimes there will be areas of river sand which is good stuff.

You can add sand to this tank, but it would have to be about 15mm above the coral sand at its lowest point. As the coral sand is likely going to keep the pH of the water high, I'd think maybe the best course of action is to remove it.

Add sand to the 10G and keep the Corys in it?

Jools

Is it coral sand? It doesn't look like it IMHO, just artificially coloured small grain gravel (that was called sand at the lfs).

As a cheap suitable alternate, how about pool filter sand from a DIY store etc.

In terms of replacing it, siphon out as much as you can (as Jools has said), - it wont matter if you leave small amounts in. And replace with the new stuff. You can do this in stages if you want to avoid major disruption but more of the original stuff inevitably gets left that way

it is not coral sand (i don't think). It is supposed to be for freshwater tanks, just a colored sand. i thought it would be ok, but in the photos it does look much coarser than in person. It's not so much the cost that bugs me it's the transfer itself. i hate to stress them out and move them to the 10 gallon but i think it's probably best. i will look for some better sand, and start planning this.

How long have you had the fish on that substrate? The barbels look in great health at the moment, so it might just be a case of keeping an eye on them?

It's worth finding out if it's coral sand though. Do you have any strong acid, such as limescale remover handy?

no i don't. they have been on it for about 3 months i think. i don't think it's worth taking the risk, so i will look for softer sand. i am pretty sure it's NOT coral sand.

here is a link to the sand i bought.- i think this is the same stuff- http://www.petco.com/product/115881/Pet ... yCrossSell

It does say on the Web site that "It will not affect the water's chemistry". Not sure how reliable that information is though.

It's no biggie to replace the sand, providing you're organised! Do you have many rooted plants?

You can find good play sand at any local Home Depot or Lowe's that works great for cories. Just be sure to look for the more natural toned sand and not the white sand (this is limestone which will raise the pH and KH). It's a lot cheaper than pet store sand too.

Rinse the sand thoroughly before putting in the aquarium. Put about 3-4" in a 5 gallon bucket and fill with water. Swoosh the sand around and the silt will rise to the top and can be dumped out. Do this about 3-4 times. It's ok if the water doesn't become clear.

You want to keep about a half inch to an inch of sand in the bottom at most. Otherwise it can become anoxic on the bottom and hydrogen sulfide can accumulate. I take the handle of an algae scraper and swoosh it through the sand regularly to stir it up and help aerate the bottom.

Plants will also do well in sand but I noticed that you have an Anubias plant in the background of the picture. This is an epiphyte and does best when attached to a piece of wood or rock rather than buried in gravel. If you have plants like Crypts or swords that need a deeper substrate you can put them into their own little clay pots and then stick the pots in the sand. You can conceal the pots with pebbles or small pieces of driftwood.

Andy

thanks everyone. i went to the LFS and they had nothing. No freshwater sand at all. Then went to hardware store and they had pool filter sand, but it was coarse. They said it's the only kind they carry. It was coarser than my current sand. maybe i can find a very soft, fine aquarium sand online? Yes i have a lot of plants. they seem ok in the sand so far, but i can look for some driftwood. The sand i have currently can fit thru a mesh strainer, it's not that big, but in the pics i can see how coarse it is.

* been reading online and play sand sounds great except people complain that it makes such a mess and won't clear up, even with multiple rinses. Silica sand sounds nice but people complain it's very lightweight. not sure what route to take..

ok, so i decided to go with pool filter silica sand. i sifted it with a fine mesh strainer and got the larger pieces out. this stuff was very easy to work with, and once the water clears i will be very happy . i did a 50% water change after i got the wrong sand out. Plants are back in and hoping the tank clears up soon.

Looks good - looking forward to seeing the tank.

Jools

Maybe it's my perception, but that pool filter sand, and the ones I've seen in person, doesn't look any finer than that Petco sand you had. But it'll definitely be rounder/smoother since it's used for filtration.

Geochemically, all fine grained natural substrates are not totally inert anyway. Only manufactured silica sand, or crushed quartz (and even that will contain some stray carbonate and other soluable minerals). Unless the sand is made up entirely of quartz, zircon and garnets (all commonly seen in natural sand), you'll get some insignificant water chemistry change. I say insignificant because geologically speaking in terms of timeframe, 1 water change a week is a lot of water changes.

Pool filter sand is fine. A lot of hobbyists around here use it as it is not as fine or silty as playground sand. One advantage is that it does aerate better which helps prevent hydrogen sulfide buildups so you can go a little deeper with it.

A really popular substrate around here is Flint River gravel which comes in various grades but their smallest grade #00 is just a hair larger than sand and really nice for plants and cories.

Unfortunately, it's a regional material and not found much out of the northern Midwest.

Andy

thanks everyone. i hope the tank clears soon. it's sort of getting there..i can tell it feels great to work with and sinks immediately without clouding. I am so glad i did not go woth Play sand. i have read it's so messy, and i did not want to deal with that. i still have about half a bag of sand, so i will try to decide if i want more. i have about an inch right now and the plants are staying in place.

new sand. i think they like it!

The PFS looks great. I use it in almost all of my tanks, all of which have at least one Corydoras species. It's probably not exactly like the sand in the natural environment for Corydoras, because it is probably coarser and heavier, but it is much more practical for aquarium use and my Corydoras thrive on it. It is easy to clean and generally does not get sucked up into the impeller of your filter.

Good luck with your fish!

thanks i am very happy so far.

Jools

The corys on the two pictures posted in this thread look like males to me. Females are a lot rounder, even at that size and when laying on the substrate, the females belly is like an arch the males belly is kind of flat like a straight line.

thanks. i was thinking they looked male to me, too. They are still young-ish, so time will tell.

They are all enjoying the sand.