Hi guys,

I was wondering if someone had some input about using the petco black sand with cories. I searched through the threads on here and found some discussions, but I'm specifically wondering if the petco sand is fine enough for the cories compared to caribsea sand.

The reason is that I have the cories in a temporary tank with the white Caribsea All Naturals sand and they are having an absolute blast with it. They dive face first into it and I can see them sifting the sand through their gills, even my tiny panda cory.

They are eventually going to be moved to a 55g tank that I am getting together and I purchased the petco black sand for this tank. However the grain size seems a little larger and after watching my cories enjoy the other sand so much I am worried that they will not like the petco sand as much. Does anyone have cories with this sand? Do they play in it the same way?

Any feedback welcome

I have cories in my tank with medium grit blasting sand. They dig through it, skim across the surface, and enjoy it from what I can see. Never had a problem. I can't imagine petco sand would be worse than blasting sand. They will be fine.

I too keep corydoras over 20/40 grit Black diamond blasting media with no issues.
Tractor supply carries it.
Is much cheaper than petco sand or Carib sea at around eight dollar's for 50 lb bag.

That's great guys. I have heard lots about the black blasting sand. I chickened out because I saw the grain for the petco sand looked nice and rounded but the blasting sand a little sharper. Although I hear that tons of people on here use it and love it.

I have a tractor supply near me that sells Black Diamond medium and fine blasting abrasive.

Is this what people are using? I know people use it but I can't help being nervous :S

I've got Pygmy Corys on Black Diamond and they sift through and peck food out of it and their barbells are in fantastic shape!

+1 for blasting sand. I have the medium grade in 4 different tanks with various cories. They're all pictures of health and seem to love it.

After using it for going on 2 years now, paying aquarium brand prices for plain sand seems positively insane.

Sounds good. I think I'll give it a go!!

Just be sure to rinse it well first. I do a portion at a time, rinse/pour/repeat, 2-3 times until the dust mostly goes away. You can tell when it's getting clean.

Ok so they have both the medium and fine blasting sand.

I can see how the 20/40 looks like the petco size but actually think I would like it a bit smaller.

Does the finer one, 30/60 also work well? I guess the only concern would be if its so light it kicks up all the time. I am also planting the tank but have stems and DHG in the fine caribsea sand that does well.

From what I've read the Petco black sand is a little too small and therefore gets blow around easily and makes a mess if it gets disturbed. The 20/40 BDBM is just heavy enough and coarse enough to hold plants in decently. I had trouble getting some of my Dwarf Sag to stay until it rooted.

Hmmmmm. Now I'm unsure. Maybe I'll decide once I see it. Well at least its only $8 a bag, its only a 55g tank so even if I make a mistake its not that big a deal.

Although the petco black sand I got is much bigger than the white carib sea sand I have

I don't really think you can go wrong either way to be honest. But for a 55g you're going to save some $$ going with the Black Diamond. I chose the Black Diamond because of cost and the fact it has flecks of white, gold and copper quartz like colors in it. It's a unique looking substrate, and it brings out the color in my cherries!

Sounds awesome haha. I'll see if I can pick some up and try it.

Thanx everyone!

I'm setting up a tank and going the black diamond blasting media route as soon as I can find some (local store was out). From what I have gathered the 20/40 grit is better than the 30/60 as it holds the plants in place better than the smaller sized media.

I use 100lbs of the medium grade black diamond blasting sand in my 54g with 12 corys. And their barbels are long and beautiful.

Don't fall victim to the stories of coarse sands hurting corys barbels. The only thing proven to cause issues to their barbels is poor water conditions and extended periods of stress. I read an article recently about an expedition that found corys in their natural environment surrounded by coarse sand, sharp rocks, etc. and they were as healthy as could be.

Like stated earlier though, if you do decide to get the blasting sand, take your time rinsing it and you'll avoid any cloudiness and oily surface film. Took me around 6 hours to rinse 100lbs, rinsing a little at a time until the water ran clear each time.

Bump: I went with the 20/40 grit also because of this, and also because the smaller grit would be more prone to compacting and/or having the anaerobic pockets (not saying it would ever happen, but a larger grain size would be less likely).