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can corys be kept in a barebuttom tank?
i have mine in a barebuittom tank with a huge driftwood with anubias plants...
just checking if barebuttom will cause them to lose or injured their barbels?

barebottom tank is OK for corys... they can't loose their barbels on barebottom tank.
regards
Vedran

Bare bottom tanks are OK for Corys. That being said, I believe most fish are more comfortable with some kind of substrate in their tanks. Corys natural behavior is to root through the substrate searching for food. If you do not use a substrate I would paint the bottom black.

Mark

thanks,
my tank has a little gravel spilled out from my anubias in pots...
and its also has huge drifwoods

btw about the gravel... is it ok to use gravel?
or should i use sand?

gravel or sand?!?
Well , corys prefere fine sand... they just love it!
But gravel is OK if you are using 1-3mm size of gravel...
regards

stina wrote:gravel or sand?!?
Well , corys prefere fine sand... they just love it!
But gravel is OK if you are using 1-3mm size of gravel...
regards

thanks will gravel this size be ok?
there's a little scattered on the base of the tank... since it fell from the pots aboove:)

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IMO it looks a little skimpy, sand might make a nice addition, just be sure to get the proper kind (called play sand or river sand in North America) to prevent barbel damage

metallhd wrote:IMO it looks a little skimpy, sand might make a nice addition, just be sure to get the proper kind (called play sand or river sand in North America) to prevent barbel damage

won't sand be hard to clean?
i'm a little worried that it'll be hard to clean...

metallhd wrote:IMO it looks a little skimpy, sand might make a nice addition, just be sure to get the proper kind (called play sand or river sand in North America) to prevent barbel damage

Sand is a lot easier to clean than gravel as all of the dirt sits on top. This means that the tank has to be cleaned out more often to get rid of it as it can become unsightly as well as being bad for the fish. I have found that play sand compacts a lot under water and tends to stir up very easily. this however could just have been the type i used. i have found that proper silver sand doesn't do this. At the moment i am using white silver sand for dwarf puffers and find it very effective. Oh and one more thing if you decide to use the sand and have an internal power filter keep it well away from the sand as if stirred up the sand can be pulled into the impeller and ruin the filter. Just remebmer to turn your filter off before working in the tank.

Rocket

I would only use a thin layer of sand on the bottom of the tank. Sand tends to pack down creating a lot of anaerobic activity.

Mark

Unless, of course, you have a banjo cat or MTS to take care of those pockets!

Or a certain Loach species!

Graeme wrote:Or a certain Loach species!

wow! thats a nice picture:) can sand from the beach be used?
not sure what type of sands are available here..
but the filter i'm using in my cory tank is a powerhead filter....

No! dont use sand from the beach! The best type of sand is "silica" sand or "play-pit" sand but dont go over 2 inches in depth.






Graeme.

thanks...
i'll try to look for that kind of sand and put just a very very thin film:)

I have used a sand called "pool filter sand", as a substrate for a small 10 gallon tank. It worked pretty well, it was easy to clean, the trick is the size of the vacuum tube you use. I had to down-grade to a smaller tube so it did not have the ferocious siphon power to it. I keep that for the gravel tanks. I still used the large piece that fits on the end of the siphon tube that stirs up the substrate and pulls the dirt out.

Graeme wrote:No! dont use sand from the beach! Graeme.

What's wrong with beach sand, assuming one cleans it well? The salt from ocean beach sand must rinse out with enough rinsing. Is creek/river beach sand any better?

troi,
who really does not like play sand and hates to pay for what is down the street by the beachload for free

squid wrote:...
just checking if barebuttom will cause them to lose or injured their barbels?

Just regarding the barbels, a bare bottom is ok. However, with a bare bottom you take the risk of fungus at the underside of the cory in the long-run.

,mmmm
so the gravel in my tank..



does it look sharp?
I'm gonna paint my tank's buttom black..
some gravel gets spilled from the pots.. will these be enough to cause injury to their barbel?