# Open area



## Aqua sobriquet (22 Mar 2020)

With any luck I’ll be setting up a 60L Nano for some Corydoras soon and want to keep the substrate as uncluttered as possible to give them room to root around as they are want to do. I’m guessing the tank will as a result have to be fairly sparsely planted. Have any of you seen anything online you can point me to picture wise of something along these lines? Much depends of course on what I can buy locally in terms of rock and wood etc.


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## Tim Harrison (22 Mar 2020)

Cory Catfish will also benefit from some dense planting and hardscape to create shady areas etc to hide and lay up in. Their natural habitat often has dense plant gorwth along the shoreline.


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## dw1305 (22 Mar 2020)

Hi all, 





Aqua sobriquet said:


> I’m guessing the tank will as a result have to be fairly sparsely planted.





Tim Harrison said:


> Don't forget Cory Catfish they'll also need some dense planting and hardscape to create shady areas etc to hide and lay up in.


I agree with Tim. It depends a little bit on the _Corydoras_ sp., but a lot of them actually like planted areas and leaf litter.

There are forums and facebook groups with good information on them. I belong to <"PlanetCatfish"> and the <"Catfish Study Group on Facebook">,  which both have a lot of well known fish keepers and scientists (some members belong to both categories).

Some species are definitely sand specialists, but when you see a fairly bare tank with a big shoal of _Corydoras_ sitting on the sand, often it isn't particularly because that is what they want to do, it is just there is nowhere else for them to go.

Have a look at <"Corydoras breeder with planted tanks">. 





dw1305 said:


> ...........When you have some-one, who has bred 128 species of Catfish, has tanks that look like this, it refutes a lot of those arguments:


 The breeder in question is Mark Allison and he has bred over hundred different species of catfish. This is what he says in his interview.





> ...............This sort of evolved into a belief that although we see videos and pictures of typical Corydoras habitats that are sandy or leaf littered, the Corydoras must be laying on plants or some form of plant matter or roots and there must be plants somewhere upstream in the river whether it be overhanging trees or plants within the rivers and streams.
> 
> This set me off on a planted fish room whether it be moss, Guppy grass (Najas), Cryptocoryne or Java fern, and I found more species of Corydoras laid on plants rather than on the glass or spawning mops when provided. Eggs are also easier to remove from plants due to plant cells having a coating on.
> 
> The growing plants were also removing nitrites, nitrates and carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. In effect they were conditioning the water, making the quality last longer.......


cheers Darrel


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## Tim Harrison (22 Mar 2020)

dw1305 said:


> When you see a fairly bare tank with a big shoal of _Corydoras_ sitting on the sand, it isn't particularly because that is what they want to do, it is just there is nowhere else for them to go.


Like Darrel mentions it does depend on species. I've kept several of the more popular species over the years and they can be quite shy and skittish and usually prefer to hang out in dense planting; only venturing out from their hiding places at feeding times.


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## Aqua sobriquet (22 Mar 2020)

Thanks Darrel, I’ll have a look. 

Edit: this is the sort of thing I was expecting.

https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48658&sid=bc852f19ec0bf1333d387ef1d2884c81

I wonder what sand was used in that tank, it’s nice.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (23 Mar 2020)

Pygmy Cory in particular are more of a mid water swimmer than many of their peers which might help if you you do want more plants


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## dw1305 (23 Mar 2020)

Hi all, 





Aqua sobriquet said:


> I wonder what sand was used in that tank, it’s nice.


It is a nice colour. I can ask on PC, but I think she lives in Canada.

cheers Darrel


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