This fine gravel was recommended to me from fishlore’s setup guide, and at this point I don’t plan to switch it out for sand. I’ve read to some extent this will be a compromise for corydoras no matter what, but will it be a no no, be harmful to them? (For those familiar with it) I’ll try to post some pictures during lights up tomorrow, but I’d say it’s 30 percent sand size granules, 70 percent fine worn gravel. This site has a good photo. Albeit without scale. https://www.4fishies.com/caribsea-super-naturals-peace-river-20lbs.html I am reading now they have a peace river sand that looks very similar but finer, in lieu of adding this sand to a portion of the tank, what are thoughts on this substrate on its own? This is a dime coin for scale:
Gravel is fine for fish with barbels, you just have to keep it extra clean. The problem is that sometimes when the gravel isn’t clean and the cories dig around, their barbels get infected and that is what causes them to fall off. It can happen in sand too. Your gravel should be fine for cories.
I recently swapped my cruddy river rock substrate for this substrate, specifically for my Cories. (I’m not a fan of sand.) So far they’ve had no problems. They’ve been more active and spend more time digging around for food. I’ve seen no irritation to their bellies or barbels. They’ve also been spawning quite often, which is a sign of happiness. Here’s a picture from feeding time last night! (You can see some eggs on the tank behind the thermometer)
