Crushed Coral Substrate

[chris348]

When i originally started out, my LFS advised me to use crushed coral as the substrate, saying it was perfectly adequate for a reef setup and fish. However
i have been reading a bit more into the subject and the use of sand raises its head quite often.

We have some hermit crabs in the tank as part of the clean up crew, but i am not sure if they would prefer sand to crushed coral. If i were to go the sand route, what would
the implications be to the rest of the tank. i.e. could i simply add the sand over the crushed coral, mixing it as i go. Or would i need to remove the crushed coral and completely replace it with sand, an option i would rather keep away from.

 

[thomas10051988]

sand is best because crushed coral can buid up nitrates also you will have to remove the crushed coral first or the sand will eventually sink below it also make sure you get araonite sand as other sands wont have an affect on ph that you want

 

[chris348]

Thanks for that mate. Thought it would be a lengthy process as after having sat and watched how items fall, the crushed coral does look as though its "catching" alot of it. Your from the UK, so can i ask where you got yours from ?

 

[TylerFerretLord]

How deep is the substrate and how long has the tank been set up? If it's been over a month disturbing it may have some problems attached.

 

[thomas10051988]

i got it from wavertree nook aquarium in liverpool but you can get it in any lfs its best to get live sand called arag-alive theres a range of colours nad grain sizes

 

[TylerFerretLord]

I disagree, all you will be buying is a bag of dead organisms with the occaisional live one. It's better to use plain aragonite and seed it with a bit of sand from an established tank.

 

[chris348]

How deep is the substrate and how long has the tank been set up? If it's been over a month disturbing it may have some problems attached.

The depth is about 15 cms and the tank has been going now for about 6 weeks. Would me introducing sand being another cycle or difficult period for the fish, as that is the last thing i really want to do.

 

[thomas10051988]

it wont cause a new cycle just do a good size water change to remove anything that came out the substrate also whether or not to use arag-alive is your choice i have had good success with it while others report to have no benifit i just think for an extra couple of pounds you may as well give your system the best possible variatoin of life

 

[SkiFletch]

15cm!?!?!? Thats way deep Chris and really ASKING for trouble 6-12 months down the road. Introducing new sand would not introduce a cycle dangerous to fish. You CAN encourage an algae bloom with new sand, but obviously the fish won't care about that. Best bet is to remove the crushed coral, but do your best to vaccuum it first and get all the crap that's inside it out. Then replace with sand that has been thoroughly rinsed in tapwater.

 

[Fatty]

yeh, I agree with SkiFletch 15cm is kinda deep..

As for substrate I'd go for some crushed coral and coral sand mixed. Don't worry about live or dead it will seed soon enough from live rock. The different sizes in the sand I personally prefer the look of and I know my gobie finds it alot easier to build with.

Coral sand is generally good for deeper beds as it won't cement/solidify like aragonite, but also has plenty of aragonite in it to buffer the water. (how much substrate actually buffers is debatable I'm sure).

Coral sand has alot of calcite (type of carbonate used in shells etc.) mixed with the dead coral (aragonite), which stops it solidifying. That is only if you buy the smaller grain coral sand 2mm-4mm, if you buy 5mm or bigger grains the coral sand will be mainly aragonite.

Hope that helps