# Is Flourite too sharp?



## AEWHistory (Jul 6, 2008)

Okay, so when I was setting up my aquariums awhile back I used Flourite to set up one of my tanks. Since it needed to be rinsed (don't get me started on that process... what a paing in the  ) I used my hands to sort of 'work it' and noticed that the bits could, at times, be a little sharp. However, this didn't initially make an impression on me as something I needed to worry about. So I setup my tank and eventually fish, including three Corys. Then when I was doing some reading one day, I came across some posts about how Corys, and other bottom feeders with barbels, are prone to getting infections if they have to root around in a sharp substrate and that this could lead to loss of said barbels and death. Eek! So did I screw up here? Is Flourite a strictly no Cory/Loach/etc. substrate? It is so commonly used that it never occurred to me that it could be a problem, but if it can bother my hands, couldn't it damage a Cory's sensitive barbels?

-Aaron


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## Nevermore (Mar 26, 2007)

I remember seeing a discussion about this some time ago in General Aquarium Plants Discussion: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ew-aquascaping-need-help-substrates-cory.html


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

i've got loaches and corys with flourite without any issues. the coreys don't really root around into the substrate, especially not as much as the loaches (yoyo and botia), that practically try to bury themselves into it. and they're fine.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

The new Flourite Black Sand is my favorite of the Flourite products. The others can be difficult to plant in due to the sharpness of the granules and the overall size of the granules.


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## rich815 (Jun 27, 2007)

I used red flourite for a while and had no issues with my corys.


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## AEWHistory (Jul 6, 2008)

Nevermore said:


> I remember seeing a discussion about this some time ago in General Aquarium Plants Discussion: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...ew-aquascaping-need-help-substrates-cory.html


Thanks for the link!

What with the holiday and grading I almost forgot about this thread..... but I did want to respond. It definitely sounds like it isn't an issue. So far my own Corys (three of them) and the two Dojos I have in the tank seem fine, but this hasn't been very long, just a few months I figure.

I suppose my next question would be, other than sand-blasting grit, what constitutes a 'sharp' substrate? Personally, it'd never occur to me to use anything for sand-blasting in my aquarium, maybe I'm overly cautious, but if that is the extreme that one needs to avoid, then really almost any reasonable substrate should be fine.

Thanks!


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## jmhart (Nov 13, 2007)

I do think it's a bit sharp. My cories and loaches don't dig around in it...any more. My Dojo loach used to burrow into pure SMS all the time, but once I started mixing in flourite, it got to sharp. He had some soars develop from the sharp edges the first few times he tried to dig, but he learned. It would be nice if Seachem ran the product through a polishing system to smooth out the edges a little.


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## plurmaster (Apr 1, 2008)

My opinion floruite isnt too sharp and is great for plants but if you have fish thats a lurker i might have differnt opinion


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

I have never used Flourite so I cannnot comment on it. I have used black Sand Blasting Grit for many years and it is OK with Cories. The last time I bought some (a couple of years ago) I mixed it with Eco Complete in a 75 and it has been fine.

Recently someone posted a link to a Supplier of Blasting Grits and they listed attributes of various types of grit and two of them touted round edges for some application. I have not been aware that there were different types other than sizes and I always chose the largest grit they had because it was small to begin with. I learned about this stuff from a Cichlid guy. If anyone is interested enough to get some samples I would appreciate a report if you please.

I have used plain sand from the Nursery and it seems to be OK too, at least for the last year or so.

My next project will to be to try a 20 or 15 as an NPT with topsoil and sand as a substrate. Probably I will try the NPT this Spring. The round edge Blasting Grit also sounds interesting if I can get some.


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