polojoanne

We are slightly concerned that the gravel we have is a bit sharp for our corys.Does it interfere with our cycled tank if we changed the gravel to more rounded smoother gravel.

Lucy

If you're newly cycled, I wouldn't change it out just yet.
If you do, put the old gravel in clean never seen soap panty hose and leave it in the tank for at least 2 weeks to give the new gravel a chance to seed.

polojoanne

ok thank you think its prob best to leave it, its not over sharp so hoping it will be fine no sign of the pandas getting scratched or anything,

mosin360

From what I read, the whole sharp gravel thing is a myth as how could the species survive in the wild with such tender barbs? So I would say any gravel is fine.

polojoanne

thats great yea didnt want to go through the whole gravel change business when we have only just cycled and stocked, think they have been through enough lol

sirdarksol

Where did you read this? I'd be interested in seeing the rationale/study behind that.
I ask because we have had members whose loaches and/or cories have been injured by sharp gravel in the past.
To answer your question about how such a species would survive; they wouldn't come into contact with that kind of rock. Species are built to function in their particular environment. If you can get extra sensitivity (and thus, better ability to find food and avoid danger) by softening the barbels/underbelly, and if doing so presents a greater gain than risk, it could very well happen. Cories and the loaches that require soft/rounded substrate come from places that have soft/rounded substrate, often silt, but sometimes rounded river rocks.

mosin360

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/doc...atfishes.shtml

Do a search for Barbel erosion. Lots of good links in that whole discussion.

sirdarksol

Good information in those links, but he's drawing an conclusion using bad logic. He is supporting his theory on articles that say that bacterial infection or fungal infection can cause barbel erosion (something that we don't argue here... in fact, we've talked about treating it) and on the fact that barbels can grow back (so if they're lost by sharp substrate, they can't grow back, but if they're lost by bacterial infection, they can? Doesn't make much sense).
He bases another part of his argument on the idea that, because at some form of magnification, there is an aspect of sharpness to rocks, therefore, all rocks are sharp. By that logic, I should be able to cut myself on a rubber ball, because if I magnify far enough, there will be sharp ridges to the molecular structure.
The quote from someone on another fish forum has some excellent information, but even he notes that all substrates are not equally sharp, and that the fish more enthusiastically dig in softer substrates.

Nutter

I have to agree with Sirdarksol on this. Common sense tells us that a fish will seek out an environment it is comfortable with & which suits it best. There are many different environments contained within a stream/river system & it makes perfect sense that the fish will inhabit the areas that suit it best & avoid the ones that don't suit it. Using layman's logic, when I go fishing, I look for the kind of environment that best suits the fish I am after & then fish there. Fishing in a rocky place for a fish that likes a sand bottom won't get me many of the fish I am after. I wouldn't go fishing for trout in a slow moving dirty section of a river, they simply won't be there. If I move further upstream to where that same river runs cool & clear though, it is likely that I would be able to find a few trout for my dinner.

I know that it is crude logic but it is absolutley correct & applies to every creature on earth. That's why we don't see monkeys hanging around in the city centre & why we don't see many people hanging around in the middle of a barren dessert.

sirdarksol

Sorry, back to this issue: It's probably your best choice right now. You can always change it later. It won't be any more difficult in a few months.

If you're unsure about what you want to put in there, my personal suggestion is EcoComplete. There's no rinsing. It's super-easy to add, and it's great for plants (should you ever want any). It's also soft, making it ideal for fish that like to root around for their food.

polojoanne

that sounds really good hope its easy to find in the uk, yes we have a few plants.

polojoanne

seeing as our baby panda seems to have absolutely no barbels at all so were so worried we will defnitely have to go for a gravel change asap.

So can we please some advice how to do it as easily as possible without ending up in a cycle again ??

Jaysee

I've kept corys with both sand and gravel. What I noticed the most about the gravel was how careful they were working over the substrate - very deliberate. With sand, they just dig in. One thing about the gravel, though, is that it's not as sharp once the biofilm covers it. Sand is still much preffered, though.

I too would wait till your tank is more stable to go switching things around.

Betta_guy95

With corys, sand is the best choice. But my corys are in regular gravel (not sharp and not super duper smooth) and are just fine. I've noticed no barbel damage.

polojoanne

ok mine just normal not sharp not smooth, the other 3 are fine big strong barbels its just him the little one, he was eating last night he does eat so think i will wait.

haedra

I agree with SDS.

Did the cory always have missing barbels, even since purchase? As what was already noted, keep in mind that he could have been born that way (has been known to happen), or they could have been nipped off depending on what the store was keeping with them.

There is a fish store I went to, the sterbai cories I picked up were kept by themselves, but the pandas were being kept in the same tank as tetras; and as a result most or all of the pandas had alot of fin damage from the nipping. I actually did point this out to them, and the guy looked upset so I think it was another employee's error to have put them together.

Keep the water very clean, and make sure you see him eating. They just might grow back after awhile.