Alternative to corys

[Werwa]

I have Flourite substrate in heavily planted aquarium and don't want to stress corys who might cut up their barbells and bellies. I need an alternative catfish to eat left over food, but don't want them to uproot plants. Are their alternatives other than shrimp? I know I can add a layer of sand over Flourite, but read eventually it fools to bottom of Flourite. Trying to do right by my fish. Thanks for the help.

 

[Ghettofarmulous]

I’m not being smart but could you feed less and in small pinches during the feeding time so only small pieces fall to the bottom?

 

[Werwa]

That is actually a good point, but try as I might, some may fall to the bottom.

 

[sparkyweasel]

If the substrate is too abrasive for Corys, I think it will be bad for any other fish that feed from the substrate.

 

[mort]

I agree with sparkyweasel, if anything feeds from the substrate it will encounter the same problems. You might get away with really greedy fish like danios that would pick from the substrate rather than rifling through it. I wouldn't underestimate how useful the humble ramshorn snail could be in this situations or other snail species like Malaysian trumpet snails.

 

[Conort2]

I’d say inverts would be your best bet really. I’ve never found fish to be good at cleaning up anything and they generate more waste rather than make a cleaner tank.

 

[FISHnLAB]

I wouldn't worry about the Flourite personally. There are reports all over the internet of people successfully keeping Cory's on rougher substrates, including Flourite, without issue for several years. I think the whole sharp substrate destroys barbells is largely a myth(like many things in this hobby unfortunately) and is more caused by poor husbandry, inadequate nutrition, sub par water quality, etc. If not, then how does one explain the many, many reports of people having several year old Cory's that have lived in black diamond blasting sand and other rough/sharp substrates without issue. There barbells are perfect and they look strongly coloured and healthy too... Just do some research on this topic and you will see what I mean...

That said, it can't hurt to use a smoother substrate either and may decrease the chance of issues overall so if you feel like it's something you want to do there are many options including Play Sand, Silica/Pool Filter Sand, Coarse Sand, Fine Gravel, regular or powdered aquasoil, etc. You can use coarse mesh zippered bags to keep different products seperate in your tank if you want to use more then one product or cap the Flourite.

I also want to point out that there have been several people who have went on trips to view different bottom feeding species in their natural environment and when they put their underwater cameras in the water guess what they saw on the bottom? Very sharp broken shale and other sharp gravel have been found yet the fish look fine. There are videos on YouTube of several expeditions. Here is one from Cory(Owner of Aquarium Co-op). Skip to 22:45 for a view of Corydoras natural Substrate in Peru. Spoiler alert, it's jagged and sharp...

 

[Guest]

I need an alternative catfish to eat left over food

I'm sure you intend to feed your catfish more than just leftover food, however, it might be worth mentioning that all fish require a balanced and varied diet to remain healthy and should never subsist on leftovers alone. For example, corys are omnivorous, so they require a staple diet consisting of a good quality sinking pellet or tablet, supplemented with live and frozen foods such as Daphnia, Artemia, bloodworm and similar.

I wouldn't worry about the Flourite personally. There are reports all over the internet of people successfully keeping Cory's on rougher substrates, including Flourite, without issue for several years. I think the whole sharp substrate destroys barbells is largely a myth(like many things in this hobby unfortunately) and is more caused by poor husbandry, inadequate nutrition, sub par water quality, etc.

I must admit to also being a little skeptical of this too. What may seem sharp and angular to us may not necessarily be the case on the scale of a cory barbel.

 

[FISHnLAB]

Yes, a high quality and varied diet is important(likely far more then Substrate choice imo). Here is my Cory's roster for instance and they also get Boyd's Vitachem added weekly...

 

[mort]

I would point out that being found on sharper substrate isn't necessarily the same as living on it. The fish move about quite a lot and are generally found over sandy bottoms. There is nothing to suggest they aren't transitioning from one area to another and it's generally much safer to use fine grade material even if perhaps, for some, other solutions work.

 

[Gerald Buswell]

Just to follow up on the clip above from Aquarium Co-op, I have fished that piece of river on numerous occasions, what you see there is actually hardcore from the recently completed bridge just a few feet from that spot. This is a very misleading clip which creates a totally false impression.
Further up and down the river there is sand and even mud, because there are patches of stone or gravel does nor mean the fish are constantly over that section of substrate, they move up and down the river and are found mainly over softer substrate. I have never caught many Corydoras in that particular section, on the other side of the bridge there is a mud pool which is often where many CW097, an aeneus type, are found.