Sand For Cory's

Hello, I will be setting up my 35 gallon tank soon. I intend to keep cory's for my bottom dweller and possibly a bristle nose pleco, I may also keep an apistogramma. I have read that sand is best for cory's. I have found some black diamond sand blasting sand at my local tractor supply. I found fine blasting abrasives as well as medium blasting abrasives. would one of these be the preferred substrate? Thank you for any help.

 

Sorry I don’t think this is a straight yes or no.
The fish would likely prefer the finer substrate. But if you have appropriate filtration and water movement (and most of us think those are good things, in moderation) then you’ll end up battling the finer sand in your filter and impeller (which is very bad), and general water cloudiness.
Anything between 20 and 40 grit (size) appears to work very well.
The only exception would be a tank running only sponge filters; then you could go very small. IMO.
What are your concerns/prefs?

 

Personally I like the bigger grained sand (PFS) more than the finer one.

 

I kept my cories on gravel at first, they were fine because it wasn't terribly rough, but when I switched to sand they immediately started to dig with their noses, it's true they appreciate sand substrate over gravel.

 

Hello, I will be setting up my 35 gallon tank soon. I intend to keep cory's for my bottom dweller and possibly a bristle nose pleco, I may also keep an apistogramma. I have read that sand is best for cory's. I have found some black diamond sand blasting sand at my local tractor supply. I found fine blasting abrasives as well as medium blasting abrasives. would one of these be the preferred substrate? Thank you for any help.

It’s up to you. I helped my brother set up a 55 that has some Cory’s and they love the fine white play sand. They actually dig little holes everywhere and the sand has a wavy pattern to it now. It may not show up as well on the black. Really either one will work this is just my experience.

 

I think I am going to go with the medium sand. I was worried that it would be too rough for them but, I would like to avoid any filter problems. Should I plan on doing 2 inches of substrate?

 

I think I am going to go with the medium sand. I was worried that it would be too rough for them but, I would like to avoid any filter problems. Should I plan on doing 2 inches of substrate?

If you rinse all the “dust” out of the sand you should not have any filter issues even with the fine sand. With the medium grain make sure to rinse well. I usually take a 5 gallon bucked and rinse 2 inches of sand in the bottom at a time. Just run a hose into it and it will get all cloudy. I fill about half way and swish around and rinse. It works best when you let the water kick up the sand. The heavier particles sink back down quickly but the really fine dust floats around and gets poured out. You know it’s ready when you add water to the top and can clearly see the bottom. Then just add that to the tank and clean another batch. It will be fine to leave wet and any chlorine in your water will evaporate out of the tank in no time.

 

And 2 inches should be plenty for your tank I can’t wait to see pictures once it’s all set up!