Cory Tank

[Kevin619pug]

im starting a new 10 gallon tank especially designated for corydoras, i need to get small size gravel, plants (any ideas, java fern, swords, etc..), and i would like a big piece of wood or stick, you know you see that in a lot of tanks, should i use sponge or regular filter? i dont know but does anyone know a good site for plants or that wood. plus landscaping ideas. Dont worry im not a beginner i have been a succesful fish keeper for over 2 years, love cories, and have done all the research imagineable, and yes i have owned and currently own cories. i just never had a tank especially designed for them.

[andywoolloo]

I've never done it in a ten but I had 12 peppered cories in a 20 long. Just them in there. They mated continually. I never had any babies tho, I think they ate the eggs. Not sure. Mine had a black sand bottom, driftwood, live plants, slate, caves..etc. I ran a Whisper 60 on it and then moved to Rena Filster XP1.

The plants I like are java ferns, anubias nana, crypts, amazon swords. I think I have some pictures but they might be dark. I think this is when there was only water wisteria in there:

[jac]

I always recommend sand instaid of gravel. Thats better for there barbles. If the females have no barbles they will not (or very difficult) lay any eggs. As they use there barbles for cleaning the spot where the eggs are dropped.
I always give them a lot of wood to hide under. Also you can give them some plants. Think about the plants tho, they tend to stick eggs under them. If you want to collect the eggs use plants that are quick growing, so you can just take the leaves with the eggs off. I also give mine drifting plants for shadow and it makes them feel save. Panda's use the hanging roots for spawning. They don't need a lot of light either.

Like to see some pictures when your ready Succes!

[Kevin619pug]

I am most likely going to use, CaribSea Tahitian Moon Soon for substrate. Crypt Wendtii and Java Fern for plants. I have no clue where I'm going to get driftwood that would fit in a 10 gallon. Also, I think I might just use a hydro sponge filter, the one where the bubbles come out the top so there is water agitation. I have no clue what the pros and cons are for that so if anyone can think of any that would be awesome.

[nvcichlids]

DO you live near a river or lake? If so, you can find yourself some driftwood. Just bring it home and bake it for 1-2 hours at about 275-300 degrees and then after that boil it for another 1-2 hours and it should become waterlogged again. This is what I do with all my driftwood, and I can find some of the nicest pieces you could dream about in the Wisconsin River. Also, take a saw with you incase you find "part" of a piece you like. I have hacked up some old dead tree roots that were in the river just to get pieces I liked.

[Kevin619pug]

yeah i might just buy a cheap nice piece of driftwood then saw it down, if i buy it from a store or online, then boil it for 1-2 hours will it sink forever?

[MatsP]

yeah i might just buy a cheap nice piece of driftwood then saw it down, if i buy it from a store or online, then boil it for 1-2 hours will it sink forever?

Most aquarium driftwood is heavy, so it sinks without being boiled. If you want to avoid turning the water brown, you may want to soak the wood in a bucket of water for a couple of days first. The tannin (which colours the water brown) is not harmful to the fish, but some people don't like the water looking a bit brown (or a lot brown if you put a large amount of wood in at one time).

--
Mats

[Kevin619pug]

how would i go about cleaning the sand without sucking it up?

[andywoolloo]

you kind of hover over it and slowly move the bottom of the gravel vac, it kinda makes the detrius waft up and get sucked in. You can touch the sand with the end also, just do not submerge it in. you'll get the hang of it. The cories love to snuffle around in it. The sand I mean.

[Kevin619pug]

i dont have have a gravel vac can i just use a hose as a siphon?

[andywoolloo]

like a garden, car wash hose? I do not think so, also if you use airline tubing only, like as of you remove the actual gravel vac tube from a gravel vac and just use the tubing, that's not good either, least not for me cause it sucks up too much sand even if you're careful. course you can always rinse it and add it back in.

the gravel vacs are real cheap at the LFS.

[jac]

For my maintanance I use a common garden hose. I put a piece of pvc on one end so I can direct the sucktion just above the sand or into cracks of wood and stone. You can put the end piece of hose in a bucket or just lay it outside, I do both. But you must be carefull not to suck any fish into the hose

But really, if you want to clean the sand properly (once a year or so) it is much easier to remove it and rinse in a bucket of water. Always wash out the sand before use! It contains a lot of dust and your water will turn extreemly white

[Bas Pels]

You can stick one end of the siphoning hose into the sand, siphoning the sand into a bucket, or so (or it will flow into the lawn). alternatively, you could widen the sucking end of the siphon, for instance by making a bottle (without a bottom) to it - thna the same amount ow water will have to lift not a diameter of 1 cm, but say 7

this will mean a 7 * 7 time moe surface, and this will be too haevy to lift any sand - but smaller parts, especially whose which are not that heavy, such as fish excrements and dead plant material, wil lflow upwarts

Still, I neve used it, I rather see what I'm doing, so I siphon sand out

[Kevin619pug]

will plants grow right in the sand?

[Bas Pels]

Mine do

They have no chooise though - it is grow in the sand, grow outside the sand (I do have some vallisneria growing on wood, I'm happy to say, it's very beautiful) or not grow at all

All my tanks have sand - between 1 cm and over 15 cm, I'm afraid

The thin layers are a result of too much siphoning, the thick layers come from digging fish - thinking they get more to eat if they bare the bottom or something

[batamba]

You can also add some floating plants to provide cover, although if it's a species-only tank chances are good they will feel secure enough without. I have a 10 gal with only corys and they use the whole thing, nearly constantly...and no floating veg at all.

I have a clump of dwarf hairgrass in there and they seem to love sifting around and through it, so maybe look for some grassy-type plants for your tank?