sand vs crushed coral vs bare

[tlsrcs]

Like the title says tell me your opinion on each not just one all 3 or any other suggestions.
I am going to replace my sand bed over the next few months so now is the time to make a change......I have been dealing with alagea. And cyano so I really hate the distrius build up on/in the sand so I was thinking crushed coral. So I could point a power head at the bottom. Good idea or no??

 

[Cake_Boss]

I'm doing bb, only for the easy cleanup though. I love the look of a sandbed as opposed to cc. It also depends on what fish/inverts you're trying to keep. Gobies/Jawfish can't sift through cc

 

[tlsrcs]

No none of those.....do you think cc is heavy enough to have flow directed at it?

 

[Boogie]

do sand or bb. cc becomes to much of a trap. Lots of people going through the difficult procedure of trying to get cc out of their tank without crashing it.

 

[Denver aquarist]

I had CC when I first started my tank and liked how it looked but it was a huge detritus trap IMO, I like the sugar sand if you have a good cleanup crew and flow you won't see anything sitting around on the sand. When I took that CC out of the tank I couldn't believe how nasty it was the water looked like a sewer.

 

[tlsrcs]

Ok what about a mic of cc and sand? I don't really want bb cause of it being to plane.....but I also like a bigger grain size substrate as I could have less clouding when flow is pointed at it. Ggrrr decisions!

 

[coloagro]

I prefer the sugar sand look and my critters seem to prefer it! No algae problems yet and no detritus laying around. I run an MP10 high in the tank to minimize blowing sand but as the tank is maturing I dont see sand tornado anymore so all in all I'm happy with sand. I dont care for BB look...its just not natural enough for me but thats my opinion...to each their own

 

[Tajjo]

Next time around I'm going with the thicker reef grade sand. I currently have the sugar grain size and it still gets blown all over after 4 years.

 

[Zooid]

Crushed coral and sand don't mix well, after a short period, the crushed coral will separate out and you'll have layers.
I used to have crushed coral and it was a nightmare. If you don't keep it clean which is almost impossible, you'll have
constant nitrate problems.

I like sugar size sand but bare bottom is good too especially after it's matured and you can grow coraline or corals on the glass.
If you're having problems with cyano, it's best to find the source of the problem. High flow works to keep it from settling, but you
need to find out why it's multiplying in the first place.

Good luck

 

[ShelbyJK500]

Ok what about a mic of cc and sand? I don't really want bb cause of it being to plane.....but I also like a bigger grain size substrate as I could have less clouding when flow is pointed at it. Ggrrr decisions!

I went with a "mid size" grain. I toiled over this topic as well. I really wanted white sugar sand but didn't want to deal with the sand tornado's. I went with a grain that won't blow all over but is much smaller than CC. In my fish only I went with a touch bigger but again, still smaller than crushed coral. I plan on keeping a small army of the large nassarius snails in the fish only to keep the sand stirred and they are great detrius consumers anyhow! Just my .02

 

[hurrafreak]

CC - eh it looks cool for a small amount of time but IMO it always seems to trap more crap in it than anything else
BB - what ocean have you been in that didn't have sand?
Sand all the way, the cool thing is there is various looks, and colors!

 

[Bajamike]

Biggest mistake I have made in my tank was the CC. Hard to clean. Gobys and other sifters cant sift. I dont personaly like the look of BB . So IMO sand all the way!

 

[Cherub]

CC - eh it looks cool for a small amount of time but IMO it always seems to trap more crap in it than anything else
BB - what ocean have you been in that didn't have sand?
Sand all the way, the cool thing is there is various looks, and colors!

+1

All I've ever heard about CC is how much labor it is to keep clean. BB looks really really lame. like those overstocked freshwater tanks you see in Chinese restaurants. I feel sad for those fish... I'm going with black aragonite in my 75.

 

[Denver aquarist]

I was going to say a mix wouldnt work CC is heavier and will go to the bottom after time. So you will then just have a detrius trap and sand on top.

 

[tlsrcs]

ok so where do you recomend i could get some larger grain sized sand? also im thinking of doing a complete sand bed change so put all the live stock in holding tanks and then taking all the rock and washing it in SW and the taking all sand out and replacing with new sand......bad idea?

 

[Cherub]

it can be bad if you have lots of nitrates in the sand. Do you have sand sifters?

 

[tlsrcs]

im sure i do have lots of nitrates and that is part of the reason i want a new sand bed....i dont really know how old this one is and i would like a bigger grain size so i was thinking set up my stock tank/ sump as a holding tank for every one and then just empty the tank of all water and use it to wash out all rock..then rock into the stock tank/sump with the live stock. Than take out all sand and clean tank with vinagear rinse well then new sand in new water in and old rock back in.....let cycle if any i hope its not long. whike tank is cycling ill be skimming stock tank and doing weekly water changes. Does that sound ok? or is everything going to die?

 

[Denver aquarist]

I started with cc a long time ago hated the look and how much detritus stayed in the bottom. Decided to switch to fine sugar sand . I was new to the hobby and had no idea what impact the change would do to my tank. Your asking the right questions and on the right track. My system pretty much crashed after doing this change I lost a yellow tank, shrimp a clown and long tentacle anemone . The water looks like a sewer after you stir it up. The best thing you can do is remove all the livestock put them into a qt take out almost all the water then remove the cc clean the tank up then add sand and water . Let it cycle for a week or two and once your tests look good add everything back. It's a big task but worth it in the end. All I did was let the water clear up after the change then put everything back into the tank hence all the loss I had. Hope this helps...

 

[tlsrcs]

ok sounds good that is what i plan on doing putting everything into a stock tank. And ill be romoving sand and replacing with thicker sand as i dont know tha actual age of my sand bed.....Thank you evryone for there input.

 

[little_fish]

You could just remove a small bit the of the sand bed with each water change. Takes a bit longer, but easier to do.