55 Gal Reef Substrate?

[cokeman]

I'm not sure if I made a mistake or not...when I put the substrate in my tank I used marine sand, and I also mixed it with crushed coral....now for this "mistake" I have algae all over the crushed coral, but not the sand....to help avoid algae should I have just gone with plain sand? Also I'm having a hard time getting my live rock to flourish...any help would be appreciated...thanks!

 

[spiderwoman]

I'm there with you in having crushed coral as part of the substrate and algea all over the *light weight* shells. UGLY if you ask me. I'm wanting to switch to 100% LS but from the advice I've gotten I know now to make the switch very slowly, ideally with all fish and inverts out of the tank, then sit and wait for a mini cycle that will kick in.

 

[cokeman]

well I've had LS as well and it wasn't any better...but the sand for some reason doesn't seem to grow algae as quickly and is easier to control from what i've seen.

 

[snakeblitz33]

The difference between live sand and crushed coral is that live sand compacts nitrates down and makes a non-oxygenated zone for anarobic bacteria to break down nitrogenous waste products. Crushed coral has flow through it, however it builds up detritus and fish waste which causes nitrate spikes and fuels hair algae and cyanobacteria blooms.
Live sand also has to be maintained in their beds. Too shallow of a bed, and there's not enough of a dead zone for the bacteria to build up. Too deep of a bed, and without some maintenance, acid can accumulate in areas and kill the entire tank.
There's trade offs, however I suggest getting rid of any crushed coral. If you absolutely want to keep crushed coral, you can use a python hose and "gravel vac" it when you do your water changes.

 

[snakeblitz33]

The only time live sand doesn't work is when the tank does not have enough internal flow to keep detritus and fish waste off the bottom and processed by the filtering system.

 

[cokeman]

well i'm not going to be using live sand either....just normal marine sand...however over time it basically becomes live sand but with weekly water changes like i've been doing it will help keep my chemicals down. I'm not exactly sure how i'm going to get the crushed coral out of the tank since it's mixed in with my sand but if I get most of it out then cover it with a nice thick layer of marine sand (not live sand) then all should be ok and it will help with my nitrites and such. maybe?

 

[earnit33]

I've also got a 55g,started it up with 60 lbs. LS and I have'nt had any issues with algae on the sand.

 

[reefmate75]

i use a mix of sand and crushes coral, the crushes coral is harder for my fish to move ( maroon clowns ) and thats why i have it in there i do use a vac on the substrate to clean out "grey" patches that do apear every now and then, and im guessing thats the waste build up, but i dont have a problem with my CC sand mix, i like it becuase of my maroons sand shifting habits its really the way to go for me JMO

 

[cokeman]

I can see where it comes in handy for you. I have no clowns (yet) but I think I need to get some more sand in my mixture. Thanks everybody for the help and advice.....how about my live rock growth? seems to be very slow.

 

[renogaw]

what do you mean your live rock growth being slow?
live rock only means it has bacteria in it (and some critters), do you mean the purple coralline algae?