Advice on plants and sand?

[KTLM]

HI!

I hope this is the right place... if not, my apologies. I've done quite a bit of reading, but just wanted a little more input from people who know what they're doing.

I haven't had my own tank for very long, and am still doing my best to learn how to keep my fish their happiest and healthiest. I would love to put some live plants into my tank-- a 20 gallon, which currently has only logs and tacky fake plants. My tank is made up mostly of cory cats-- I seem to have fallen in love with the silly little buggers. I also have 2 plecos and a few assorted live-bearers.

What sorts of plants would you recommend? From what I've seen, cories don't seem to be too picky about, well, anything... but are there any plants that they might particularly like over others?

I've also got a few sand questions. Right now, the bottom of my tank has blue gravel. My parents (who have worked with fish for 20+ years in the wholesale business) insist that they have never had trouble with cories on gravel in the past and that changing over to sand would be messy, wasteful, and unnecessary. The cories don't seem to mind it too much, either. However, I have read that sand is much better for them and their barbels.

So, I have decided that I want to switch over to sand or something similar, but I really don't know what to expect. I imagine I'm going to have to, essentially, start my tank all over again? Is this something that is going to require my fish being relocated for more than a couple of hours? I don't really have any place suitable to keep them for very long, and I don't want to stress them out too badly.

Also, is there a particular type of sand that would be best? Is color important? I like bright colors, but would my scaled-friends prefer something a little more natural? Are there any potential issues that I can/should prepare for?

Sorry if my questions seem silly. We've all got to learn somehow, right?

Thanks!

[L number Banana]

Hi, no such thing as a silly question here
I'm not the expert here at all but I've asked a lot of the same questions and can help in a few areas. If your gravel is rounded and smooth, it should be fine but they seem to like to nuzzle their little noses right into the sand. You could post a close-up picture of it here for the regulars to take a look at.

I changed from a sharper sand to a white silica sand, it's dirt cheap at DIY type stores, under $5. Usually found in the masonry/concrete section. Just make sure it says SILICA because they also carry a masonry sand also known as sharp sand - you don't want sharp anything! I don't think it comes in any bright colours but you can add nicely coloured rocks maybe? I've seen tanks with bright coloured marbles in with the sand, looked like polka dots, very funky if you like bright. Another good thing about plainer coloured sand is it's easier to change the look of you tank if you want to someday have a more natural looking tank. There's also black onyx sand but that may be what your parents were thinking of when they mentioned 'costly'.

Also the change-over to sand can be done without too much bother. Simply push the gravel to the end of the tank and slowly scoop it out. Good time for a nice vacuum...
After you've washed your sand way more times that you think it should be, rinse it again and add it slowly to the corner of the tank via a PVC pipe or some other method of allowing the sand to go straight to the bottom without floaty bits. Take your time. Do the next bit in another corner or whatever. If the first bit of sand you put in shows any plume of stuff, it needs more rinsing Don't worry about any hills or valleys, the corys will have it leveled out in no time. Can you tell I had to do this before? I actually had to vacuum out my sharp sand to replace it all with the rounded sand. Patience.

*You mentioned "your scaled friends" but catfish don't really have scales even though the Cory's really look like they have armor plates! That's something important to remember if you ever have to medicate for any reason. You have to make sure your fish products say "safe for SCALE-LESS fish" many of them aren't safe to use on catfish.

I don't know about Cory's preferences for plants because like you said, I don't think they really care Mine seem to wander in and about all my plants but seem to spend more time picking bits off some of the finer-leaved plants. I guess there's more stuff caught in the fine leaves. It might be good to check with the fish store for plants that match your temperatures.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask any questions, I've already asked all the dumbest ones and it was a very good thing I did!

[Bas Pels]

@ what plant would a Cory like?

Some corys like to sit on a leave, especially the smalle ones, so therefore such leaves should be provided. However Hygrophylum multisperma (we call them Belgican green, but small chanses for you with that name) has leaves which are almost big enough

I think the plants themselves, the Corys will not mind - but many people think plants need CO2 addition. They don't, but some cultivars, such as Echionodorus varieties are supposed to loose their colors unless the CO2 in the water is very high, and lots of light are provided - which the Corys don't like either

So virtually all plants which are easy to keep will do good

[MatsP]

I think you are taking the right path going for sand. It's definitely a good thing for corys. And if me saying so isn't enough, then perhaps a certain Hans-Georg Evers would be "big enough a name". He said a lot of things at the Catfish Study Group convention in March this year, but the message he REALLY wanted to get across, aside from promoting corys in general, was "Keep them on a sand substrate", not gravel and not bare-bottom.

Sand is the nearest simple thing to a natural habitat you can get. Sure they survive a lot of different environments, especially the more common, easier to keep varieties. So whilst your parents aren't wrong in saying "we've never had any problem with corys and gravel", it doesn't reflect the real situation that the fish would have in nature. And the closer to this, the better for the fish, in my opinion.

I agree with Bas with regards to plants suitable for Corys: Go for the "easy" and "lower light" plants, and the corys will be happy. I have some Amazon swords and Anubias in my tanks. I also have a few forms of Hygrophila (and I think Bas meant "H. polysperma" when he said "H. multisperma"), valisneria and some "cabomba" (I don't actually think it's true cabomba, but another of the fine-leafed "brush-like" plants).

--
Mats

[Richard B]

small round grain sand is a must for corys - HG Evers & Ian etc etc can't be wrong.

As for plants; Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias species are my recommendations as they grow attached to wood & a sand substrate has negligible effect.

[apistomaster]

I like using silica sand sold for pool filters.
For plants, I use Anubias attached to wood and the free floating, the Hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum.
I also use Java Moss attached to wood.
All my tanks are low tech with regard to the types of plants I use.
Short ground cover plants I recommend are Pygymy Chain Swords and Dwarf Sagitaria subulata pusilla.
Hygrophila polysperma has been classified and restricted as an invasive species/noxious weed in the USA.
It can still be found and illegally traded among aquarists so it hasn't disappeared except from the lists of aquarium plant growers.

If I want to grow Echinodoras Sword plants of the larger species I pot them in FloraBase with some substrate fertilizers. It is a little expensive to use FloraBase as the whole substrate but it is also a good one. Larger in particle size than pool filter sand. but far smaller than gravel and the particles are smoothly rounded and the material doesn't pack so it is easy for Corydoras to root through it for food. It can also be used blended with Pool sand if you wish. That moderates the stark white appearance and makes dirt less visible.

[L number Banana]

Here's some info for your sand. Something I just learned about - keep the sand layer thin! It's explained here
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=26699