Dark or light sand for corydoras?

I have a 29 gallon tank with a small light gravel substrate, artificial decor and 8 Buenos Aires Tetra. I think I would like a school of Corydoras. If I decided to change the substrate to a sand should I go with a dark sand or a light sand? I was think maybe 8 cories. Do you think that might work?

 

That should work just fine. And for the sand that is a personal opinion. I prefer dark black sand because I think it looks nicer. But lighter sand, like pool filter sand and play sand it much cheaper.

 

Dark sand is much better in my experience. White sand shows up every single tiny bit of dirt. I've got a 5 gallon tank with just shrimp and snails and I do water changes at least 3 times a week tI stop it looking disgusting. It still looks pretty bad but there's not much you can do. Black sand however hides poop pretty well. You have to actually look for the poop to see it.

What kind of cory are you getting?

 

Thanks. I don’t know what kind of Cory to get? Suggestions?

 

What temperature is the tank? Different cories need different temperatures.

 

Currently 78F but I think the BA Tetra can tolerate somewhat lower temps so I can slowly move the temp down and once they have adjusted then add the cories.

 

I like my play sand, it’s tan. Very cheap, you just have to wash it very well. I have corydoras habrosus.

 

I like the play sand I use, and my dwarf chain loaches do a good job of stirring up any goo off the bottom. I'd bet that the cories would do the same thing!

You could have a mix of gravel and sand with cories, as long as it's not super sharp gravel.

 

Currently 78F but I think the BA Tetra can tolerate somewhat lower temps so I can slowly move the temp down and once they have adjusted then add the cories.

I think they do best around 73-75f. At that temperature you could do pandas, bronze/albinos or three lined cories.

 

Is your gravel small enough that they can dig through it easily? If so, then it's good for Cories. For temperature, I keep my Bronze and Peppered Cories at 76 degrees, since that's the ambient temperature in my house and going lower is tricky. If you can get it lower than that, it would be better. But don't worry about it too much. I find that Cories aren't super sensitive to temperature.

 

Does anyone have experience with SterbaI Corydoras or False JuliI Corydoras? I like the way these types look?

 

Mine like their sand an awful lot. I went with black sand because I had all white fish and it just seemed liked I'd be able to see them better! I have albino corys and just recently added aeneus. They all hang out together. I went with the cheapest option at my LFS - they had really pretty corys for $8, but since I wanted 4 of them and I'm on a budget, the $5 aeneus won out and I'm glad they did - they're pretty in their own way and pretty fun to watch!

 

I use Eco Complete for my tanks (planted) but I worry about the Cory cats and their barbels. Does anyone have advice if that's ok or not? They seem ok...
I have aenus albinos, julii, and Pygmy (hasbrosas?)