Is anyone else using crushed coral??

[NanoBound]

I couldnot find any sand suitable for my 10 gl., so I am using crushed coral. Is anyone else using it and are you having any problems or benifits with it.

[changhsu]

The *trend* nowadays is DSB. I think the trend was CC before this. The most common setup nowadays are:

 

1 DSB

2 CC

3 bare bottom

 

Plus a few others and of course, hybrids. There are many pros and cons with every method. Some issues with CC, off the top of my head.

 

- traps food and poop (dentritus?)

- not suitable for some critters

- less bio filtration than DSB

etc etc

 

You can get more info by using "crushed coral", "CC", "DSB", "bare bottom", or "vs" to do a search. Check the "search titles only" box. You'll find a ton of posts about this at RC.

 

The main factors in selecting a substrate are:

 

- bio filtration

- aesthetics

- livestock compatibility

- cost

- maintainance

 

CC scores lower on most of these factors than most other options.

 

However, there are many many people using CC, it still works, you just have to be aware of its issues.

[DeskJockey]

I made a DSB out of crushed coral in my 55 a long time back and its still in there. I can say I wish I used a finer sand cuz it is definitely more difficult to maintain.

[Cyber]

Hello,

 

I did 50% real fine sand in the bottom as a place for bateria and little critters to live, then cover with either 50% of argonite or 25/25 of argonite and crushed coral. Crushed Coral gives extra Calcium buff. This seems to work well for me.

 

Cyber

[dchisenh]

I don't think Dr. Ron (the deep sand bed guru) believes a DSB is even possible in a nano. The depth and area needed for adequate denitrification just isn't there with our smaller set-ups. It makes sense to me.

 

Also, crushed coral has less surface area than finely ground sugar-sized aragonite or even regular sands. And less surface are is less real-estate for bacteria to live on. So, it's a smaller bio-filter per unit area.

 

Some fish, worms, critters, won't burrow in CC and it'll scratch them if they try, so it's easier for fish who liked to burrow to do so in sand. I've noticed my spagetti worms do best in the sugar-sized sandbeds with a few pieces of rubble mixed into it.

 

And lastly, it's a matter of personal taste, but I think fine sand looks better than CC.

 

If you can find some pool sand or play sand at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. you could use that as a gentler substrate. But, it won't buffer the water and may leach some silica into the water and promote diatoms. I use sugar-sized aragonite in my tanks and like the color, size, and texture of it better than anything else I've tried. You should be able to find some at your LFS or at the very least online. CC is do-able, but you'll probably be kicking yourself in the near future after you've set the tank up for not having gone with a more suitable sand.

 

Hope that helps.

 

-Dan

[myelin]

How would I go about changing out the CC in my tank to DSB?

 

I wish I did sand

[DeskJockey]

You cant just use any pool sand or play sand. Most of them have silicates. If you use those then you'll always wonder why your phophate levels are off the charts.

[DeskJockey]

koolaid-

You can take some out a little at a time. You dont have to remove all of it. Then lay down some finer sand over it. Only do a cup at a time like once a day to avoid a dust storm. I know someone who did this in his 125 with no problems. He just took it slow. It took like a month or so but it worked.

[dchisenh]

Silicates can came from pool and play sands, if they aren't calcium carbonate based. I haven't heard that they leach phosphates before, that's new to me.

 

I did use a silicate based play sand in my 75 awhile back, phosphates were always undetectable, had a slight diatom bloom in the beginning (like most tanks) but I don't attribute that to the sand. On an interesting note, I had sponge growth through the roof in that tank! Small sponges covered glass panels and a lot of rocks within weeks. I think if there was any silicates leached out, they were used by the sponges. I've considered experimenting with adding some silicate sand to my tanks to notice if the sponge growth would increase, but haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

 

If you're lucky enough to have a Home Depot that carries Southdown play sand, then use it! It's the perfect size, cheap price, and will help buffer your water.

 

Although, many people question how much buffering actually comes from the sand and LR in the tank in the first place because for there to be enough acids in the water to dissolve the sand and rock, then your fish and corals would likely be impacted way earlier. I dose Kalk for buffering and calcium and haven't had any problems.

 

-Dan

[NanoBound]

Thanks for all your comments everyone!!

Well, since I already have the cc with live sand in the tank, it looks as though I am going to be giving the cc some time in the tank to let the bacteria fully bloom. Then once it does, I will slowly start to change it over as suggested, but leaving a small amount of the cc in there for buffering. Would it hurt to leave about 1/4th an inch of it in the tank or just about a couple of cups of it mixed in??

[dchisenh]

Your sand bed critters should help mix it up if you've got some active nassarius, ceriths, small conch, etc.

 

How much (depth) of CC do you have in there now?

 

If it's not too much, I'd just add more LS to cover it up and like I mentioned earlier, it'll get mixed in on it's own. I like to add some LR rubble from a bin that my LFS holds the LR in to my sugar-sized aragonite since it seems that worms and such like odd larger pieces for cover and other things, like gobies, shrimp, etc. will use the larger pieces for constructing caves. I like diversity in my tanks. It looks cooler and helps things out in the long run.

 

-Dan

[NanoBound]

I have 1 1/2 inches in there now.

[dchisenh]

Just remove as much CC as ya feel like and replace it with some more LS. Why didn't you use all LS in the first place?

 

I wouldn't get all worried about the CC, it's not going to doom your tank or anything, it's just not the *best* thing out there, that's all.

 

-Dan

[myelin]

Thanks for the tip. It seems like it would be a hassle to replace the CC with a DSB. If I feel up to it, I might just do it. I really dig the way pure white sand looks in a reef tank. It really looks nice and aunatural.

[NanoBound]

I used CC because live sand was not available in my area. As for southdown and etc., well not availiable here either. The closest thing I could find was playsand and it was red almost a rock looking sand at my local home depot.......yuk!!!

 

Since my last post, I was able to get my lfs to order me in some oolite sand. Just have to hold onto my britches and wait 2 weeks for it to get here....lol !! Although I would love to find someone to sale me a portion of there live said.......wishful thinking!!!

 

But thanks for your help and I will follow your recomendations on slowly replacing the CC. I may have to setup a seperate container, with the sand, to turn it into live sand before adding it to my tank though.

[dickwayne]

If you have live rock, there is no need to buy the expensive "live sand" bags. Any fine argonite sand will work, and will become "live" once the bacteria from the rocks seeds itself. So don't bother mixing it in a seperate container.

Live sand from established tanks is another story however. If you can get sand from another DSB, then that will help to establish different life in your sand bed. The more variety in the sand the better.

As far as mixing sand and CC, don't do it. The fine sand will eventually find its way through, and the CC will remain on top. The CC will trap detritris, causing PO4 and NO4 levels to stay high. Just get rid of the CC. No big loss.

[NanoBound]

yea!! I have live sand headed my way. One of the members here was kind enough to give me some sand out of there tank!! I am so thrilled!!! Now I can get the CC out of mine, which I am giving to another member on here to help them out!

Thanks All for your help, and special thanks to the member for giving me the sand.

[myelin]

My LFS has 5lb. bags of white sand that says it is for reef systems. Nowhere on the bag does it say argonite. Will it be safe in my established tank? I really want to get rid of the cc!