ADDING LIVE SAND

cathy

New Member
I'M SETTING UP A 75 GAL I.VE ALREADY ADDED ABOUT 55LBS OF CRUSHED CORAL CAN I ADD SOME LIVE SAND TO HELP IT CYCLE QUICKER?? IF SO HOW MUCH :D
 

fshhub

Active Member
to answer your question, it would help to cycle the tank, and i too woudl only use the ls,a nd completly forget the cc, eventually i t may be a problem, if yo are cycling your tank now, it is a very good time to make the change,yu probably will in the future anyway, so now would be best just because you have no fish in it
i personally would have a 4 ot 6 inch sand bed and make it mostly of dry sand and jsut one or 2 basgs of ls, the dry will sooon become live
even if the lfs says to use cc, it is not the best thing to use in a sw aquarium(in fact, it is not even recommended by hobbyists anymore)
 

cathy

New Member
YOUR ANSWER DOSENT MAKE MUCH SENSE I ALREADY ADDED THE CC TO THE TANK I WANTED TO KNOW IF I SHOULD ALSO ADD A BIT OF LS I'M NOT ABOUT TO TAKE ALL THAT CC OUT YOU VE GOT TO BE CRAZY.
 

underthesea

Member
It is better to have a sand only bed. It is also better to take it out now then later. CC can cause you some problems.
 

marty

Member
What they are trying to tell you is that ls is much better for your tank. Unfortunately, you have already added the cc. Does this mean you are screwed? No. I have both cc and ls in my tank. I wish I had only ls, but it doesn't mean I am up a river without the paddle. Yes, I understand that my cc is a nitrate factory, but I have a nice cleanup crew that I believe is working well to help keep the nitrates down.
Yes, at some point I think I will completely remove the mixed cc and ls and replace with ls and play sand mixture. But that is quite some time away for my pocketbook.
The other thing they are trying to say is if you can afford it, now is the best time to do the switch to ls (and a some dead sand) since your tank is currently cycling and you haven't really established the tank yet.
HTH's
 

fshhub

Active Member
tanks marty, yes that is exacly what i was saying,
IMO, i would switch the cc out completely and since you are in the cycle, now is the best time to do it, and what i was saying about the dry, was a more economic way to do so, wespecially since there are probably more things you would like to spend your money on in the near future(liek fish, maybe other equipment)
and i have had cc i have sand and have even tried the mix for a while, so i was jsut offering advice on what i would do, since i have been in your shoes
 

yardrat

Member
no need to be ugly.. we all go thru the learning phase with our tanks.. i would pull out all the cc and replace with ls.. in the long run you will thank us, and it's alot prettier to look at with all the great fish and corals in their.
 
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