Can Any PlaySand Make Corydoras Lose Their Barbels ?

[bunthid tumnontigoon]

Hello! Again Everyone

I am back again after I haven't been here for a little while. I have some questions to ask everyone who knows something about my problems. I really need to know that any PlaySand can make Corydoras lose their barbels, can't they? If yes, what is the BEST sand for Corydoras that will not make Corydoras lose their barbels and make them happy with that sand ? But, if it is NOT, why some of my Corydoras lost their barbels, but some of them NOT even though they live in the same tank and I always change the water every 2 weeks. If I don't really have time to change the water, still NOT over than 3 or 4 weeks. Whenever I change the water, I always clean the bottom of the tank as well by making sand from the bottom up to the top and the top down to the bottom. In my Corydoras tank, I put PlaySand NOT even more than 1 inch or less that make me easy to clean the bottom part of the tank, but still happen to some of my Corydoras. I do not really like my Corydoras lose their barbels. They look like NOT heathy catfish, so I try to figure out the best way to stop this problem if I can. Can someone really help me? It will greatly appreciated that very much. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

PS-NO Any decorations in my Corydoras except Driftwood and some moss and PlaySand, so NO anything that can cause some of my Corydoras lose their barbels except PlaySand. I think.

Bunthid or Max

[wijnands]

Bad water quality also seems to play a role in barbel erosion.

[Corycory]

Bad water quality and debris on the sand specifically will contribute to that. Corys co-exist very well with shrimp and shrimp and snails are a great combo to prevent pathogenic organisms like bacteria and fungi from taking over and keep the living area for corys relatively clean. This is especially good in fry tanks. I haven't siphoned the sand possibly in 6 months because there's nothing to siphon and had no problems in my shrimp/fry cory tank. But it's overfiltered and gets large water changes.

You should also do more water changes and regular maintenance and you can get better filtration and more flow, setup in a way that it picks up the fish poop and debris and gather it in the filter instead so it doesn't rot around their living area. But you still need to do filter maintenance and water changes for other reasons.
Imagine if you live on the first floor of a flat building where everyone poops on top of you.

[CoryfanAad]

Agree completely. The reason why I have shrimps in my breedingtank as well !!

[Deb]

One thing you might try is to add some beneficial leaves to the cory tank.

In your area I suggest the leaves of Magnolia grandiflora. They range through eastern Texas, so you might have to drive east a bit. Find a tree which has dropped its leaves (they do this all year long where I am) and select the brownest ones - the ones that are truly dried up. Wash them off with plain water and add one or two leaves to start off with, adding one at a time over the course of several days until you have approximately one leaf per ten gallons of water.
They will break down and you will need to change them every two weeks (approximately) so keep a supply in the house.

In my experience over the last five years, I have found that these leaves give the water just the right "tang" for corys. Also, I believe that the leaves suppress parasites and other nasties in the water and make it more anti-septic for corys. My supporting data is that, like you, I have about an inch of playsand (from Lowe's in my area) BUT change the water FAR LESS frequently than you do and yet my corys have never exhibited barbel erosion of any kind.

The leaves are easy to try and if you don't think it's helping, you can always take the leaves out.

[CoryfanAad]

Overhere we often use Catappa / Ketapang - leaves Deb. They are believed to donexactly the same as Magnolia. I will look into this leaves as well!!!! Greetz Aad

[bunthid tumnontigoon]

Thank you very much wijnands, Corycory, CoryfanAad and Deb all of your suggestions are really helpful for me. I am really appreciated those suggestions very much. I know that one main point of losing Corydoras' barbels is bad water condition as wijnands mentioned, but I always take good care of them, but it still happened. I will try to change much more often as possible as I can and also try to change and set up much more excellent filters for my tank and also more flow. I normally use powerhead in my tank to make the water flow, but I will try to make it much better.

I already put some Ghost Shrimps into all my Corydoras tank right now as Corycory suggestion and I will always check how different after this. My Corydoras tanks already have lots of snails. Is Ghost Shrimps OK for my Corydoras tank?

I also have some Catappa / Ketapang leaves in my Corydoras tanks as well, but it still happened. I will check my water more often and will see why some of my Corydoras lost their barbels. I will try to find Magnolia leave from east Texas as Deb mentioned and will see how it is.

Thank you again everyone. All suggestions are really helpful to me. I am really appreciated that very much.

- Do you know that I change Playsand from some of my Corydoras tank to White Pool Sand because I am a little worried about that. and I also really want to know after I already changed it, what happen after this.

Bunthid or Max

[CoryfanAad]

Is it Poolfilter sand??? I din't use anything else after I discovered that. Marvelous stuff !!!

[minipol]

Playsand is not a good sand to have in your tank. It collects dirt and is generally prone to cause problems.
Filter sand is good, river sand also but make sure there aren't any sharp shells or stuff like that in the sand.