biocube14
Well-known member
I was wondering if there are any pros/cons to crushed coral versus sand. Thanks!
Crushed coral v. sand
- Thread starter biocube14
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
treehugger
Well-known member
i always mix the two...
TJL
copod
+1 on mixed
The crushed helps the sand from blowing away and the sand keeps everything on the surface.
Todd
The crushed helps the sand from blowing away and the sand keeps everything on the surface.
Todd
mfinn
Surgeonfish
crushed coral is a detritus trap.
NC2WA
Well-known member
if you plan on having sand sifting gobies, sand is better
edwing206
Unregistered Member
+1. Just my experience with it.
ATP123
Huh?
same experience. I gave up the tank with crushed coral and moved everything to my 125 and sold the whole thing. Too much detrius gets trapped and will look pretty bad later on.
iroll253
Well-known member
i just use sand. Is it a detritus trap if you have good flow on it?
Not only is CC a detritus trap, which will lead to nitrate problems, it also does nothing to buffer your pH, because it won't start dissolving until you pH falls to around 6. This is much lower than your pH will ever be.
Bosco83
Well-known member
What about aragonite it's not as fine as sand but kind of in between the two?
The sand we use IS aragonite. However, you get get it in different levels of coarseness.
Not sure what you guys are talking about aragonite/CC/coral sand. They are the same stuff of different size and shape. I heard that people stay away from CC because it contain sea shells and it release phospate and Nitrate into the water. It think it is just bull. If you keep PH at 8.2 - 8.4 then there is is no way that stuff leach into the water. I find sand is too hard to clean. If bare bottom looks good I would go with out any of the substrate.
kngofaquaticoIs
Member
i use a mixture of grain sizes.... i like the medium grain like the fiji pink by carib sea and then in really high flow area i like a little crushed coral there to keep sand storms and drifting from happening, but i think my next tank will be bare bottom...
shane
shane
Crushed Coral is typically much larger "grain" size than sand. Because of this, it can cause problems with nitrates. It's not that it releases nitrates, it just doesn't de-nitrify. It will de-nitrify, if it's about 6" deep. The problem is, for a sand bed to act as a de-nitrification media, it has to be anaerobic, No oxygen. With a fine bed, you can attain an anaerobic media, with 1". Because of the coarse nature of Crushed Coral, it has to be a lot deeper before it "locks out" oxygen from circulating through it. You have to have a much deeper bed of Crushed Coral, to achieve an anaerobic media. So, there's problem #1.
Problem #2. Also because of it's coarse nature, crushed coral is more likely to trap food particles, gunk and detritus in it's top layer. This trapped detritus will decompose and add to a nitrate problem. Keeping a high pH has absolutely nothing to do with this. Constant "gravel vacuuming" will help with this issue, but that goes against the concept of "live substrate" because you're removing the living "goodies" with each vacuum, along with lots of beneficial crustacean, such as pods.
Problem #3. Crushed Coral is not as effective as a buffer, as fine aragonite sand. PH has to drop to a much lower level, before any dissolution takes place. That being said, none of the substrate options really offer much in the way of buffering ability.
Fine sand beds do not need to be vacuumed, because any detritus that accumulates will sit on the surface, instead of making it's way between coarser pieces. With good flow, you can, more easily, keep detritus in suspension, where it'll be picked up by your skimmer.
Vac the gravel is the best way to remove junk from the tank. Like everything garbage in garbage out. Don't count on the bacteria to do all the work for you. Also there are lot of other aerobic bacteria that will do the same the only draw back is C02 beging the bi product and could leach the substrate.
In the future, I would move the gravel or biological media into the sump or filter canister. Make it easy to clean and service. It bare bottom does not look good, I will try to add large live rock gravel to cover the bare bottom.
In the future, I would move the gravel or biological media into the sump or filter canister. Make it easy to clean and service. It bare bottom does not look good, I will try to add large live rock gravel to cover the bare bottom.
With decent flow and a good skimmer, you should NEVER have to vacuum your sand bed. In 4+ years of reef keeping, I've never done it. My sand beds are all still as white as the day they were added. I think you'll find that most reef keepers never do and probably don't even own a gravel vacuum. In the days of UGF, vacuuming your substrate was almost mandatory. Those days are long gone for most of us.
biocube14
Well-known member
Thanks alot guys, my 14g now is a BB, and im setting up a new 29g, so i guess i have to chosses between sand and BB. I like sand because I can get some cool sand sifting gobies, but it seems easier to siphon out detritus with BB.
iroll253
Well-known member
Whoops i wasn't thinking crushed coral as in the bigger pieces. I was more thinking of like the crushed small shell mix stuff. If you know what i'm talking about.
NC2WA
Well-known member
so not ooglite (Argamax) stuff but bigger???
agc
Active member
I upgraded to my 29 gallon a few years ago and went bare bottom. I haven't had any problems with it, but I think I might be in the minority on liking bare bottom for nano tanks. (I found that in my 20 nano with lots of sand sifters and critters living in the sand, that I still had a difficult time keeping it clean.)
Similar threads
