# Eco Complete & Cory's



## davidiscus

I've had a school of albino cories roaming on eco-complete for about three years now. It is kind of rough on them, all of mine have shortened barbels. They don't seem to have any trouble finding food and as far as I can tell they seem relatively happy.


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## HolyAngel

You could cap the Eco with like an inch of sand, that should give them plenty of room to dig in and swim on and you'd still have the Eco for the plants. The difference with cory's on sand as opposed to a rocky substrate is almost night and day, they'll appreciate it greatly and it will definitely show in their behavior. Especially if you get really light/soft sand like caribsea moonlight sand. I had the Tahitian moon which they liked but now that I have the moonlight they dig around even more, I usually have atleast one Cory every day that is covered in sand from doing so ^^


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## art_t

Thank you for your response! Your comments have helped me to make a final decision...I will change out the substrate. The possibility of barbel erosion makes me :icon_cry: and I want them to thrive and enjoy their enviroment. Plus I like the idea of them digging around and being playful  That's what I'm getting them for...to put on a little show every now and then. Thanks again! When I get everything changed over, I'll post pics. It's going to take a month or so before I get them into my main tank though. I have to qt them first.

Art


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## dwc13

I have several Julii Corys iin a 45G tank with only Eco-Complete as the substrate. My low-tech setup is probably best described as somewhere in between a planted tank and a tank with plants. I purposely didn't go for the "natural" looking planted tank so many others on this forum have had great success with. At the same time, there are far more plants and a greater variety (various Annubias, various Crypt Wendtiis, Amazon & Argentine Swords, etc.) in my 45G than would typically be found in an established aquarium where plants have been added. 

The Julii Corys are quite active, constantly scouring the substrate, plants, and decorative items for food. When they aren't on the prowl for a meal, sometimes they're resting contentedly on the substrate, often under the cover of an overhanging leaf. At other times, they join the Ottos and shimmy up and down the sides of the tank. I've kept Julii Corys in all of my 45G iterations over the years and not using 100% sand as the substrate hasn't really been an issue with wearning down their barbels. 

What you might consider as an interim measure is getting a decent-sized plastic container about 1" to 2" tall, filling it with PFS, and then burying it the Eco-Complete (so you don't see the container). For example, you might try one of those really thin clear plastic bottoms used with potted plants. If you do this, watch to what extent PFS that spills onto the Eco-Complete eventually trickles down towards the bottom. That will give you an idea of whether or not you want to cap the Eco-Complete with PFS.


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## VeeSe

I'm planning to keep my corys in eco-complete/flourite/regular gravel mix when they get out of my QT. I don't think there will be any issues but we'll see how they do.


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## sampster5000

Good luck finding a substrate that works. I have had no luck with moon sand or play sand. I have only had luck with aquasoil as it is very soft. I'll have to try eco complete next. I hope it works for you!


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## art_t

sampster5000 said:


> Good luck finding a substrate that works. I have had no luck with moon sand or play sand. I have only had luck with aquasoil as it is very soft. I'll have to try eco complete next. I hope it works for you!


When you say a substrate that works, what exactly do you mean? Did you have a problem with the plants or cories? 

@ dwc13...I would love to get some real Julli cories but the guy who owns this great fish store near me said that years ago he could get real Julli cories but not anymore. I can't even find them online. He did have some beautiful Adolfoi which I was considering.


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## Eldachleich

I hate to crash your thread, But does anyone have any experience With flourite black sand and cories? I really like darker substrates, but wanted sand for my cories. But I also want a substrate for my plants. This seemed like a good solution for all my problems. But I cant find a clear answer on whether or not Cories do well with it. I have two friends who use eco-complete and have cories. They both have short barbels, but in one tank they have alot short barbels and sort of avoid the substrate as much as possible. So I've determined (after some internet research as well) that it just really depends. On what I don't know. Some people have good experiences with it, some have bad, some says its just ok. I just decided to go for sand and not risk it.


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## sampster5000

Sorry. I had typed a big response then my computer flipped out and erased everything so I lost track of what I had said. The substrates I had used were cutting my corys barbels as they were very sharp. I assumed that aquasoil did not hurt them as it is very soft but I only had them on the aquasoil for a few weeks. I have yet to try eco complete regular or the sand but I think there would be similar problems with the sand.

At the fish store I work at I get a lot of corys in every other week. They come in very active. Within a few weeks of being in the fish shop they have lost almost all activity and show no energy or movement. I have seen this with ALL cory types. They are all on smooth gravel (little river pebbles) or bare bottom tanks. We do weekly water changes and lights are on for only 8 hours a day. I do not understand this type of fish and hope I figure out the secret to them one day. They are my favorite type of fish and I think it is for the reason that I cant seem to give them the perfect enviroment. The challenge is whats driving me. 

We get julii cory's at the LFS I work at every other week. We usually order 30 at a time.


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## dwc13

art_t said:


> When you say a substrate that works, what exactly do you mean? Did you have a problem with the plants or cories?
> 
> @ dwc13...I would love to get some real Julli cories but the guy who owns this great fish store near me said that years ago he could get real Julli cories but not anymore. I can't even find them online. He did have some beautiful Adolfoi which I was considering.


 
Juliis are my favorite Corys. They're just happy fish...able to get along with so many other species. To bad that LFS in your area isn't able to get Juliis. I take it they are able to get Corys that are very close in appearance, such as C. trilineatus (Three Stripe Cory) and C. leopardus (Leopard Cory). What's that saying, "often imitated, never duplicated..." Have you put a "Wanted to Buy" in SnS on this forum? Perhaps someone will be able to help out. 

BTW, I read the post from davidiscus after initially responding to your post. It looks like he has had Corys in a tank with Eco-Complete for @3 years, which is considerably longer than I have been using the same substrate with my Juliis. I'm hoping my Julii Corys don't end up having the same issues with shortened barbels as his, but it remains a possibility. I've been pretty fortunate over the years with Julii Corys, so hopefully the good streak continues.


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## art_t

As far as the eco complete is concerned, I've had it for 3 years now so I'm sure any nutrients that were in the eco complete are no longer there anyway. I do liquid ferts daily and root tabs monthly for the heavy root feeders, so as far as the plants are concerned I think the pool filter sand should be ok. I picked up a bag of it and it's really nice. Not too white (looks like beach sand in a beige color) and pretty small grained so I'll give it a shot. I also read that some people said their cories are more active on a lighter colored sand substrate vs. a dark/black substrate...I don't know if its true, but that's what I've read. 

And yes, my lfs has false Julli's (C. trilineatus) but he said he hasn't had real Julli's for a couple of years now. That's too bad, I would have gotten them as I've heard they're a neat little fish. Right now it's between the Adolfoi or the Sterbai (my tank temp is around 81 to 82 degrees so I need to be more careful of what cories I get).

Thanks again to everyone for your input and help. I greatly appreciate it!


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## scapegoat

my 3 cory's dig like crazy in the eco complete... but i am excited to get them onto sand


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## lovethemfishes

Hi I know this thread is older, but I have 4 corys which are SO cute and I just love them. I had them on sand (I used play sand, don't use that. After 3 years it still kicked up dust, with every water change I'd wipe the tank walls and there would be a film of dust on it, and I rinsed it to death before I even put it in the tank. I literally spent all day rinsing it before using it. Just spend the money and buy aquarium sand.) A couple months ago I used a plastic tank divider, cut down to substrate level, and put eco-complete on 3/4 of the tank bottom and National Geographic sand on the remaining 1/4. I curved the divider a bit to make it look less severe. The eco-complete is black, the sand is black. It looks great, the plants love it, and the corys are zipping around all over. There are also neons, tetras, a betta, and 2 shrimp in there. But the corys are my favorite. I've had them 3 years. They prefer the sand to the eco-complete, but dig in both. They get more rambunctious in the sand, and they rest on the sand. I used the eco-complete that is more gravel-y, not the sand one, because of all the dust problems I had with play sand. 
I'm thrilled with the mix of the two, and using a divider has kept the substrates from mixing together. If you mix it, or put sand on top, the sand will work its way to the bottom, since it's finer than any sort of gravel.
Good luck! LOVE this site!


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