Corydoras tank setup questions

[aquanatix]

Seeing as how there's an ongoing corydoras plague going on recently,i,ve decided to separate my existing corydoras and place them into individual tanks for viewing pleasure! Got a spare 2Footer,a 1Foot cube and a possible discus bare tank so I'm thinking of spreading them out?Current cory count would be roughly 10+ each of sterbai,pgymaeus and hasbrosus. Question is...what's the difference in benefits if housed in bare tanks VERSUS a substrate filled tank? Besides the increased activity due to their foraging nature,would corys do just as well in a bare bottom tank environment?(maybe just simple piece of driftwood and bits of moss scattered in alternate places?) Would they do well enough to even breed? Seeing as how most bros here house their corys in planted environment,would love to hear what you guys think about bare bottomed environment.

[pepe2403]

I personally feel that adding gravel makes everything nicer and the corydoras love the gravel compared to the bare tanks which i see them in LFS. Bare tanks would mean easier maintanance. While tanks with gravel would need some vacumming once in a while.
However i still prefer a tank with gravel over a bare tank any time any day.

[Freshman]

Hi,
I believe your primary objective for keeping corydoras is for your viewing pleasure? If that's the case, then I suggest you do up their house.
- add gravels/sand
- grow plants
- install lighting
- paste background
- etc..

However, if the objective is on breeding then IMO a simple setup with superb filtration and ideal water parameters will do.

To achieve both, I guess you will have to readjust somewhere - such that the setup looks nice to you but yet simple enough for you to retrieve the eggs.

Breeding in bare bottom tank environment is possible. Encountered before in my tank when I temporary remove all my lapis sand. Main factors to trigger breeding mood are having optimum water quality and inducing sudden water parameters changes. But of course, the corydoras must be sexually matured and ready.

Personally, I won't setup a planted tank and house corydoras inside.
Because
- I'm still not well equipped with planting knowledge.
- Corydoras natural home don't have so many plants. (saw the video in youtube - it appears sandy & dusty. )
- Plants and woods can be potential death traps if not properly placed.
- Water parameters might be subjected to too frequent changes when newbie are experimenting with CO2, fertilizers..etc..

If I were to setup another corydoras tank now, I would only add in 0.75" thick of fine river sand and a piece of driftwood with java ferns as centerpiece. (my version of semi-planted tank)

Anyway, the above is just my opinion.

[luenny]

I have cories in both planted tank and bare tank. They do equally well in both but I think they like some decor (like drift wood) in the tank so that they can explore and play around with. In really bare tank, they just sit the most of the time. Oh, regarding discus bare tank, I've advise against it. I did put some cories in bare tank with adults discus and over time some of them got missing eyes. Needless to say, we call know who's the culprit.

[aquanatix]

Missing eyes?Whoah...that sounds bad! I just transferred them there this morning!Guess i'll have to remove them ASAP! Anyway the only reason why there's the problem with the substrate is mainly due to the costs and hassle of getting them. Now that I've read what you guys thought i might temporarily try out my sterbais in a bare tank. Should i dislike it,guess i'll just set up a substrate filled tank for my dwarf corys?

[pepe2403]

Cost and hassle of getting substrate is not as bad as removing them when you want to change the setup. Almost all my tanks have ugly scratches on the bottom when i remove the gravel

[celticfish]

pepe2304,

Here's a method I use that will eliminate/minimize scratches.
Usually it happens when you're scooping the substrate out with a plastic container/cup.
I suppose this is another reason some folks love ADA soil.
What I do is to not siphon the water out first but to siphon the substrate out into a pail.
A little more tedious as you have to stop the siphon when filled then scoop the substrate out.
And continue the process till done.
It does stop the scratches though.

[pepe2403]

Scratches are there already. But now i got a good reason to tell myself i need to cover the scratches with gravel so it looks nicer

[iwishweallcouldwin]

haha nice reasoning for putting gravel pepe. but i agree with you, without gravel, the tank will just not look complete, and slightly too artificial looking imho.