Should I Change My Substrate? Cories And Eco-complete

Hello all,

This is my first post and I feel pretty embarrased for not thinking about this sooner... I just ordered a small school of corydoras. They should arrive on Tuesday (today is Sunday) and it dawned on me early this morning that my tank has eco-complete as the substrate.

It's basically just lava rock so it's super rough and I'm worried the cories will injure themselves digging around in it. Should I switch out my substrate? Maybe I could put a layer of something else on top?

Any suggestions would be most appreciated! Thanks all!

 

I've never looked at Eco-complete, but I had cories in a gravel tank with no ill effects on them. They now reside in a bigger tank with sand in it. If you put a finer substrate over a course substrate eventually the course material works it's way to the surface. You're better off just doing a complete change to sand instead.

 

Thank you!

I was considering either completely switching to sand or putting some smoother gravel on top. I think aquarium gravel is slightly larger than the eco-complete (?) so I was hoping it would stay put.

Switching out the substrate seems like such a daunting task, I guess I'm unsure how to go about doing it. Will putting in a new substrate screw up my tank cycle? Will my plants and pleco survive such a major change?

Here's what I've got so far:
Several nubias, a couple narrow java leaf ferns, a couple Amazon Spears and some java moss (both attached and free floating). Currently my only fish is a bristlenose pleco. I also have a nice piece of driftwood I bought at my LFS that's been leeching tannins for the last month or so.

 

Depending on the size of your tank and how many fish you have. You could do a big water change and put the fish and plants in a 5 gallon bucket or larger tote with the filter running. Scoop out the old substrate with a new rinsed dust pan. Add your previously well rinsed sand and conditioned water, once the temperature stabilized add filter, plants, and the fish. The cycle is really in your filter as long as the media stays moist your cycles good to go. The key to it is prep before hand, make sure the sand is well rinsed and ready to be added ahead of time.

 

This is super helpful. I went out and bought some beautiful, soft sand that I will wash thoroughly and just completely switch out the substrate. Thank you, Max!