To Cory or Not to Cory?

[LeonBright]

I have heard that corys can't do well with abrasive substrates and that they prefer sand. Should I switch to Flourite Black Sand and deal with the more careful cleaning needed or just not get corys and stick with Flourite Black? I need help deciding if corys are worth it to switch for sand.

Post your experience with corys

[Eldachleich]

Most people seem to agree that the type of substrate doesnt really matter. With a little searching you can find a few videos of them in their natural habitat swimming and eating over all sorts of substrates. From solid rock to pebbles to sand to clay.
People experience with them in the tank reflects this. They can live in any type of substrate you choose and achieve perfect health.
In general it seems that poor water quality is what leads to barbel erosion. Not substrate type.

Personally I've only kept cories over sand because I hate gravel and prefer sand in my tanks. And they love it. My mom has some over some rounded river stones. And my brother has some over generic petco brand gravel. Thriving and in perfect health.
My LFS keeps theirs in tanks with both flourite and eco complete. Those are in perfect health as well. In fact a few of them have been in there for over a year (will anyone ever adopt them?!?! One of them is very pretty too. Bright orange streak on the side) with no ill effects.
So I say go for it and buy them. Or change it all to sand. I highly approve of sand lol..

[Notnac]

I house my cories in tank substrates with sand. I noticed that they like to dig more when in sand substrates. I think they will do fine in gravel substrates. I prefer sand because it looks nicer so that's my preference. If you want to commit to changing the substrate, then I'd say go for. Hope it all works out!

[Unearthed]

I have 6 Cories in small 1-2mm gravel with no issues at all. I also have fairly large rough stones (Calcium?) in the tank and they always are doing their thing over those as well.

They really have become some of my favorite fish to watch. I have 4 Agassizii's and 2 that look like Adolfos but probably aren't. It's very weird but they do not interact with each other or shoal with each other. The 4 are always together and the 2 are always separate.

[chunkychun]

I have 2 green cories with red flourite and small gravel and have no issues. I tried putting a sandy area but they didn't prefer it.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi LeonBright,

+1 for Eldachleich's comments

I keep Cory's in all of my tanks and have for decades. I used to use natural gravel but the last several years since I have moved toward planted aquariums I have experimented with various heat treated Montmorillonite clay substrates which are not excessively sharp but are certainly not smooth (see pic). I have never had any of corydoras species develop barbel problems; I believe clean water and avoiding overfeeding are the keys to avoiding problems. I have spawned several species as well. Currently my favorite species is C. sterbai.

C. sterbai

[BBradbury]

Originally Posted by LeonBright

I have heard that corys can't do well with abrasive substrates and that they prefer sand. Should I switch to Flourite Black Sand and deal with the more careful cleaning needed or just not get corys and stick with Flourite Black? I need help deciding if corys are worth it to switch for sand.

Post your experience with corys

Hello L...

Sand is just one of many substrates that can be used. I'm not a fan of sand, because of the potential issues with water circulation and water chemistry problems, but that's my thing. I like planted tanks and there are a lot of better substrates you can choose.

Anything small and polished, free of sharp edges is fine. I use standard pea sized gravel in my Cory tanks and it's worked well. Avoid larger substrates where food can accumulate and cause water problems and avoid rough gravel, so the Cory's barbels aren't injured.

Keep the lighting a little lower and provide a lot of hiding places like low growing plants and if possible a more neutral pH. Floating plants will work well if you have stronger light.

Corys are a great fish for your tank! Don't hesitate getting some, there are at least 100 different species. I stock one for every five gallons of tank volume, a minimum of 5 or 6, so they're not good small tank fish.

B

[Aquatic Delight]

corys are great fun in sand. sometimes i'll hide bits of algea wafers just barely sticking out of my sand and watch them search for the wafer, and then dig it up, and fight over them.

i transferred a few of my corys to another tank, to clean it up a little. the tank had eco in it, and the corys just didn't seem as happy in that tank.

[Kyrol]

I have 8 in my 125g With Black diamond blasting grit and they are perfectly fine. In fact the barbles seem to be getting longer then when I first got them. They are fat and happy.

[Willamette]

Watching cories plow their little noses into sand and bulldoze around is great fun. They spawn better with sand, but otherwise I don't thinks its a necessity. They just clearly seem to like to play around in it. With rougher substrate they don't behave the same way.