No sand for cories. just plants

Pearl2011

I know cories need sand to sift around it, but I really want to do a carpet all over the tank. If I do this then the cories wouldn't have anywhere to sift the sand or for there food. If I do this, should I just skip the cories?

Thank you!

eug

How thick a carpet are we talking about? What plant are you going to use?

I don't know if it qualifies as a true carpet, but I have pygmy chain swords along the substrate and my peppered cories weave in an out of the thin leaves quite happily. They're quite maneuverable and explore every little nook and cranny there is to explore, but they're not rough enough to actually uproot anything.

Pearl2011

I have no idea about what kinda plant I want to use. Pygmy chain and another I like but cant remember the name of. I'm still narrowing down amazon plants, then choosing the easy to med ones, then categorizing them, them going to try to decide where to plant them.

Glad to know it wont hurt them =)

eug

Ya quite the opposite, they seem to really appreciate the close cover the swords provide - sometimes they can hide so well you have to look really quite closely to find them.

Pearl2011

Depending on what I do I might leave an area open. We'll see.
I think it was Bacopa Austrlis I liked too, although I might be thinking of the wrong plant.

flight50

Who says cories need sand to sift around. Many of us that keep cories do so without having sand substrates. It is a more sift friendly substrate but not a requirement. The biggest arguments with cories are deteriorating barbels with substrates other than sand. Substrates and different species of cories vary with substrate tolerances. Not to mention water quality. I have keep panda and matae cories for years without sand. In fact currently I only have flourite substrate.

Pearl2011

Okay, that makes me feel better. And another question, if they breed, I could try to raise the babies in a spare 3.5 gallon tank (biggest I have and I cant get a bigger one) then once they get big enough move them to my ten gallon with 4 female bettas? Or would they become lunch??

Byron

Successfully raising cory fry in a community tank is next to impossible. While spawning may regularly occur, as it does in my 115g, the eggs will usually be eaten by any fish that finds them, including the corys themselves, and if any should hatch, the fry face a similar fate. If you want to raise fry, it would be best to isolate the corys in their own tank, then remove them when the eggs are laid. Some people remove the eggs as they find them, if the fish don't first.

Having used fine gravel for 15 years and now using sand, I would definitely recommend sand with corys.

Byron.

Pearl2011

So I'll leave some space open then. My limited budget will help with that.
Byron, once the cories show spawning behavior can I move them to the tank the fry will be raised in?
Once they are like 1 inch-ish can be go to the ten gallon?

Ruskull

I second that, using sand with Corys. If you must use gravel make sure it's a rounded type variety.