# Pool filter sand is bad for Corydoras



## charliey (Dec 31, 2012)

I have read many threads about Corydoras and i know that they prefer sand, so I changed my substrate to pool filter sand as it was the cheapest and most often recommended. But no long after i bought my cories their barbels quickly wore down, and the man at my LFS said that my sand must have been rough. Since then I have look at many types of sand but i could not find one that was smooth. Tahitian moon sand was very rough. What substrate is truly good for corydoras?


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## Michael T (Jan 1, 2013)

My wife uses pool filter sand in her angelfish tank which houses 8 albino cories and they have no issue with it. They dig and skim over it throughout the day. Must be happy little guys because they lay eggs like crazy but the Angels eat them as soon as they lay it.


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## ngrubich (Nov 29, 2011)

add another vote for pool filter sand


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## exv152 (Jun 8, 2009)

The barbel erosion is most likely due to bacteria and fungus. Less likely to be the sand, kind of like fin rot, see link...http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/corydoras-genus


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Don't know what the problem was, Charlie, but it wasn't the sand.
I've used PFS in 3 tanks over the past 5 years, all of them with Cories in them - 5 different species - and no barbel problems at all.


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## WestHaven (Jun 30, 2012)

It is most likely due to less than ideal water parameters.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

I'm running play sand with pandas, no problems.


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

Cory barbel issues is due to water quality issues not the sand. I use PFS and all my corys have perfect barbels. The owner of my LFS breeds corys and uses almost 100% PFS with zero issues.


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## Fiftymeatballs (Mar 30, 2011)

I'd like to share my recent discovery involving my 120g discus tank. All of the corys currently have no barbells. I ruled out water quality long ago since I keep it very very clean for the discus. Several large water changes a week. Lots of gravel vac and wipe downs. I immediately thought it was the sand in my tank. I don't have PFS I have Caribsea Torpedo Beach. It's pretty granular, comparable to PFS. After posting on the forums trying to get more insight from other members I was left with no real answer. 

One of the discus has been showing signs of sickness slowly over the last year and half. Yep, a very long time frame and I couldn't figure out what was happening. Lots of prophylactic treatments with metro, prazi, salt you name it. The fish was eating like a pig yet losing weight and pretty anti social. I swore it was worms. I finally gave in and purchased a microscope, I did slime coat scrapes of my fish and stool samples. I soon found out my tank has flukes! This whole time I never saw any major symptom of it. I am treating my entire 120 with De-Los, it's week 3 of 4 weeks treatment and my fish all look more vibrant and happy. 

Keep in mind, the several species of fish were not showing any typical signs of flukes. Not one fish was flashing around the tank, I ruled out flukes based on that and was dead wrong. Turns out they all have them just in small numbers. I lost some corys months back slowly one by one. I can only assume it was due to flukes. 

I'm not saying you have flukes, but it is possible and seems to be one of the major causes of barbell erosion.


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## charliey (Dec 31, 2012)

Thank you all for your replies, but I don't see how anything could have been wrong with my water because all of my other fish and inverts were fine. Same with the flukes. Now that I thought about though I did notice that they used to spend a ton of time picking at the rocks and driftwood instead of the substrate, could that be it?


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## charliey (Dec 31, 2012)

And I did treat it, thinking it was fungus, when it first started.


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## Fiftymeatballs (Mar 30, 2011)

The major point of my post was that your fish may live for years with underlying health problems such as skin flukes. Their immune systems are keeping them in check but the health problem still exists. It can easily go unnoticed since there may be no giant red flags. In this case your red flag is barbel erosion, there is definitely something going on. Keep in mind my other 6 adult discus have were all fine, spawning every week like clockwork. They all had them, to clarify it was skin flukes not gill flukes.

You cannot just rule something out because you don't see all the symptoms. The article EXV152 posted states that barbel erosion causes are:

Bacterial/Fungal (what meds did you treat with?) 
Flukes (this is more difficult to rule out without a microscope) 
High Nitrates (do you dose your tank and what are you nitrate levels?)


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## Indychus (Feb 21, 2013)

If the cories barbels are damaged from the substrate, they will stop eating. They're plenty intelligent enough to not continually drag their face across a surface that is causing them damage.

I've kept cories in many tanks with different substrates - gravel, fine sand, coarse sand, bare dirt, etc., and never had barbel issues due to the substrate. They prefer fine sand (PFS works great) and they will dig and sift through it endlessly, searching for bits of food.

I have to agree with previous posts that corydoras barbel erosion is due to disease or water conditions, and substrate type has no effect.


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## charliey (Dec 31, 2012)

Thank you all so much. I appreciate your help. Likely parasites because I tested my water and everything seemed fine.


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## James Fambios (May 12, 2015)

*sand for corydoras*

I've tried the line of sand named supernaturals. It feels like freshly poured sugar. So far it hasn't harmed any of my corys. Their barbels are perfect except for those I had while I still had gravel. Good luck.


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

Not to say you are wrong since we don't know happened in your case...but...I never had issues with PFS and Habrosus Corry's


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## MChambers (May 26, 2009)

I've used PFS for many types of corydoras, without problem.


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## [email protected] (Jan 8, 2010)

I use black diamond blasting sand And My crew of bronze corys are always chowing thru it . No problems here


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Jan 16, 2013)

charliey said:


> I have read many threads about Corydoras and i know that they prefer sand, so I changed my substrate to pool filter sand as it was the cheapest and most often recommended. But no long after i bought my cories their barbels quickly wore down, and the man at my LFS said that my sand must have been rough. Since then I have look at many types of sand but i could not find one that was smooth. Tahitian moon sand was very rough. What substrate is truly good for corydoras?


There is ZERO scientific fact to date other then assumptions, and articles ridiculously old with more assumptions which puts you in more circles of thoughts on what is the true cause of barbel erosion. This is a topic that comes up all the time on here, and always the same crap gets said. It's a cycle that never ends haha

With that said, i've personally never had issues with barbel erosion using PFS with corys. I did though with blasting grit. I have my own thoughts, but it's just a drama filled debate i don't care to get into.

I would attempt to just do frequent water changes, and vacuum the substrate if possible but then again in the wild they are known to sift detritus with no effect, and see if anything changes. Personally i would QT the fish in a substrate-less tank, lots of water changes, and observe for any positive changes. Maybe you can solve your own issue with your own observations as we all have different outcomes, situations. Trust your own instinct.


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