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is there a HUGE difference between sand and small gravel for cories? since sand isnt the best for plants and its harder to maintain.. i was hoping to get small gravel. will it make a huge difference? i dunno what kind of cories yet, but i want them to be comfortable

sand is easier to maintain than gravel is.

Id debate that, unless subject to high flow, and the occassional stir , sand can cake up very easily , and become a hive of problematic bacterial growth. Its also more likely to block filters,and cause impellor abrasion. Using a syphon or gravel cleaner on one can be difficult too, with certain grades you lose a lot of sand straight up the cleaner and can be left with a bucket of mixed poo and sand that takes ages to settle. Light sands also tend to discolour quickly, with fish poo and algae, and keeping the aquarium looking aesthetically pleasing can be a total chore, unless you are very practiced at denying algae conditions that allow it to flourish. Fine gravel is the easiest grade to gravel clean, often releasing detritus much more easily to a syphon than any other type of media, meaning per gravel clean, more detritus is caught, and cleaning can be less frequent. It also means that gravel cleaning and water changes are entirely in sync, without needing to periodically remove gravel for additional cleaning, potentially for years. The bacterial level in fine gravel remains useful before becoming a problem for the longest possible time out of all media, and is the most easily cleaned. Its moved about easily by fish, yet unlikely to become suspended in water for long, and thanks to its size its a happy optimum between clogging and the effect of flow. It may not be as cheap as pea gravel,but it is easier to work with, and IMHO sand is better for marine aquaria where the salinity and flow rates discourage fungal threads from binding the sand grains together. Live rock and corals and the numerous scavenging species for marine aquaria also take up a lot of organic detritus that has no place to go except the substrate or filter in freshwater tanks. Marine systems are much more rigorous about the uptake of every possible nutriment of organic detritus, thus meaning what does get left on the sand is much less likely to retain nutriment and therefore spark a fungal or bacterial problem in the substrate, meaning sand is far more appropriate in that setting.

Large pea sized gravels also trap a lot of detritus and it can be very difficult grow plants in it. Handling it can be needlessly laborious. I find fine grade gravel optimum for ease of maintenance in almost any size tank, and with any species.

Personally id choose a fine gravel over a sand every time unless a species absolutely demands it, and cories dont.

hammie friend... I dunno about sand, it sort of scares my frankly... but I am a whimp lol

If you're having cories, you need smooth substrate. So, I would go with a fairly small sized smooth edged pebble for my substrate. That's what I plant to do in my 55g community, which will have a large shoal of cory cats. Small and smooth... easy to clean and maintain and I can have plants too... wont trap a ton of yuck...

Thanks guys I was really worried that cories would hit there little "mustaches" aginst gravel, but i'd getting super smooth small pebbles! thanks guys! i love you all! xD But i really do appreciate the help.

I got tahitian black moon sand for my tank, after years of worrying about sand clogging stuff up. It is a delight!!
Its so simple to care for, and cleaning is simple, wiggle a finger round through the sand wait 5 mins for the debris to settle on top, then just skim it off the surface of the sand.
It looks great and the bottom dwellers seem to enjoy it.
So far no problems with the filter or anything.
While gravel is easy too, I think sand is just as easy.



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Sand is always going to be harder to maintain, but it's permits digging behavior and is less laborious to shovel through if you're a corydoras.

It is funny how opinions vary. On another forum i use everyone says sand is easier to maintain

I dunno; sand is difficult to vac without taking some of it with you through the siphon, able to pack together and form undesirable pockets of HS, clouds up the water relatively easily (or alternatively, harder to wash clean). Also it gets into filters and other suction devices.

I use sand mixed in with my FloraMax gravel and it works okay. I havent had a problem with disease yet and I do get some sucked into my python when i clean the tank but not enough to make a difference plus eventually the sand will settle to the bottom anyways and then the gravel will be on top.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
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