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hi all.

heheh... hope this doesn't sound weird to you ... but I was wondering if you could share any pros and cons of having sand in your/ a cory tank! wondering if you would get sand in the internal/ external filter or is UGF the way to go with sand?

thanks,
philtre

PS: the new forum's great!

I use nothing but fine silica sand in all my tanks and have no problems with it.
Any detrius sits on the top for easy syphoning away and does not damage the Corys barbels.
Filter outlets on my canisters are about 2" above the sand and they do not draw the sand in.
One thing for sure, I will never go back to gravel.

I agree with clothahump. Sand is easy to keep clean and the cories love it. I have a thin layer of about 2 cm in my cory tank and they plough through it with their faces in the sand up to their eyes. I don't think undergravel filters will work with sand but they're not needed anyway, in my opinion. Sand won't cause problems with any other kind of filter.
One negative thing about sand is that (most) plants don't do good in it. I have lots of java moss in that tank so I don't feel I need any other plants. I've heard that java fern grows in sand but I haven't tried that yet.
So if you can live without plants and want to make your cory cats happy - nice fine sand is the way to go.

Actually, plants grow EXCELLENT in sand; provided that the toplayer is LOOSENED BY SOME CATFISH!
I never had any problems with plants growing in sandy tanks (I've sworn off all gravel years ago) and I like plants of all kinds, the only drawback sometimes is fish eating them (like my Panaquolus who look at live plants as extra dinner).
grit and gravel can 'lock up' a LOT of dirt in the hollows in it, that dirt will -in time- be full of all kinds of bacteria, including anaeroob bacteria, that will cause gasses and rootrot. as long as a sandy bottom isn't 3" or more, plants do fine. Light is much more an issue when keeping live plants.

hiyah all,

thanks very much for all that input! It's great to know that sand and internal/ external filters go fine together! hehehe ... not to mention there's not need for UGF.

with regards to plants, that's fine with me ... coz the only way I was going to have plants was to tie them to driftwood. If I ever decide to have plants in the sand, SG_Eurystomus's experience will indeed assuring!

smilingSyno, are your java moss tied to driftwood or are they just floating around?

btw, any recommendation for sand? erm ... is there a difference between silica sand and sand? (as you can see ... I know next to nothing about sand!) Thanks all!

cheers
philtre

oops ....

revisited the old site, realised that smilingSyno already told me about your setup. java moss in a floating mass right? ;P

hehehe ...

btw, can anyone advise me on the differences/ pros & cons between sand and silica sand? IS there a difference in the first place?

any brands to recommend? thanks in advance! as before .. heheh ... I know next to nothing about sand.

cheers
philtre

Yes, the java moss is just floating, not attached to anything. It collects in a big cloud on the bottom of the tank and some gets stuck on the filter intake and the heater. You just have to stir it up every once in a while so the filter can pick up dirt that collects in it. The cory cats like to get into the moss or lay on top of it. It looks really nice, here are some pictures of the tank:

http://www12.brinkster.com/mrsfish/javamoss.html

I don't know much about sand either. What we have is called "Marine Sand" but it can be used for freshwater since it's not buffered for a higher ph or anything like that. It is very fine and comes in different colors, ours is white.

smilingSyno,

thanks for your pics! they were really helpful.!

thanks again to all!

cheers
philtre

I've been using sand for years in all kinds of tanks and never had any plantgrowth issues at all. lI usually add at least one species of "digger'" per tank to keep the soil loose, the key issue is light- and waterquality control and adding food for vegetarian fish if you keep those, otherwise they'll find plantfood themselves.

Silica and river sand has rounded edges and when looked at through a magnifying glass looks like tiny pebbles. Ordinarybuilding sand is gritty and has sharp edges, which can and will damageCory barbels.

Ian

hi coryman,

thanks for the clarification!

was going through the thread again ... heheheh.

thanks again.

what about onyx sand? i'd heard about silver sand for the aquarium, but would onyx sand be as good for the cories and better for the plants?
-Liz

Silver sand is definately not suitable, very sharp and packs down quickly.

Onyx would be good and looks beatiful, but it's expensive. Keep in mind that it has a slight buffering ability.

I have always had silver sand, I wash it and filter out any bigger grains with stockings, I only apply a very fine layer though, but its not effected their barbs.

The sand needs changing in my large cory tank as its getting darker with the wasted food ( not that the brochis leave much ) and fish excrement, so what would be the best option, its full of corys and 3 brochis amongst other fish ( 1 royal panaque and 6 very small algea suckers ) so I need to look after their barbs.

Thanks

Hi folks! I started out with small natural gravel about 1/8" in my 29 gallon tank. That was before I discovered corys. After I put a small school of Adolfoi in, I decided to build a sand pit by pushing the gravel to the sides and back of the tank and walling in the sand with chuncks of petrified wood and some flat river rocks. Some gravel spills into the sand pit but I think it looks more natural that way and I can grow plants in the gravel around the sides and back. The corys rest on it all lined up like a fleet of old cars (you know, the model with fins on the tail lights). The sand is a natural color of varying shades of beige. The fish store guy called it "beach sand". I think its just rounded silica sand. It is sold in 10 lb bags here in Chicago by a company called Splish Splash. It isn't packing at all and you can syphon it if you kink the hose a little. I have not tried to grow plants in it yet but its good to hear that some have had success. I set up a second tank recently and used sand only. I made coconut shell huts for the corys and put in a peice of rootwood with Java ferns and moss on it. It looks nice, i'll try to get photos soon. I don't know if any one else has mixed sand and gravel but I don't think it looks un-natural at all.