sleow
- #1
I recently upgraded from a small 5 gallon betta tank to a beautiful 36g bow front tank. I bought the tank used, so I had to check it for leaks and to make sure all of the equipment that came with it still worked. Luckily for me, everything was in perfect working order! It also came with enough gravel to have a good 2-3 inch bed, which I thought was awesome since I planned on having a planted aquarium. I got it up and running, let the new filter medium hang out in my already cycled 5 gallon for a while, added Prime and Stability, decorated, and planted the low light, easy maintenance plants I bought and thought I was totally happy with it! So much so that after letting it cycle for a few days, I transferred some of my guppies into the tank and put in a small school of ember tetras.

A week or so passes, all levels are holding stead with small, daily water changes, so I added in four panda corys. They are just too cute and immediately stole my heart. But after watching them for a few days, I realized they were not totally happy with the gravel in the tank, as their sinking pellets would get lodged in between the gravel pieces. After a few days of watching them eat by digging through the gravel, I decided I needed to switch to sand. *face palm* So I started reading... and reading and reading. Thanks to everyone on Fishlore that's gone through the same thing in the past! The threads on here were super helpful in deciding which sand to go with and how to introduce it to the tank. I landed on pool filter sand and doing it all in one go. *gulp* It took about two hours total to remove some water, remove the gravel, wash the sand, put the sand in, redo the landscape, decor, and plants, and finally replace the water.
But I AM SO HAPPY I DID IT! My corys settled in IMMEDIATELY. Before, they would swim along the bottom to feed and then "pace" from the top to the bottom of the aquarium, as though they couldn't get comfortable. Now they are scooting along the bottom, happy as can be. I am hoping to add some kuhlI loaches to the tank soon now that I have the appropriate substrate! I've already added some more Stability and plant to do minimal feeds until I am sure all the water levels are holding steady.
Not too much more to say, I was just so pleased I had to share

A happy panda


A week or so passes, all levels are holding stead with small, daily water changes, so I added in four panda corys. They are just too cute and immediately stole my heart. But after watching them for a few days, I realized they were not totally happy with the gravel in the tank, as their sinking pellets would get lodged in between the gravel pieces. After a few days of watching them eat by digging through the gravel, I decided I needed to switch to sand. *face palm* So I started reading... and reading and reading. Thanks to everyone on Fishlore that's gone through the same thing in the past! The threads on here were super helpful in deciding which sand to go with and how to introduce it to the tank. I landed on pool filter sand and doing it all in one go. *gulp* It took about two hours total to remove some water, remove the gravel, wash the sand, put the sand in, redo the landscape, decor, and plants, and finally replace the water.
But I AM SO HAPPY I DID IT! My corys settled in IMMEDIATELY. Before, they would swim along the bottom to feed and then "pace" from the top to the bottom of the aquarium, as though they couldn't get comfortable. Now they are scooting along the bottom, happy as can be. I am hoping to add some kuhlI loaches to the tank soon now that I have the appropriate substrate! I've already added some more Stability and plant to do minimal feeds until I am sure all the water levels are holding steady.
Not too much more to say, I was just so pleased I had to share

A happy panda
