crushed coral question

[mbrands]

I used about 45 pounds of crushed coral for the bottom of my tank (which is still cycling, and nobody living inside yet). I know, I know . . . crushed coral is a warehouse for nitrates. I didn't know this before setting it up. A friend suggested mixing sand with the coral (which should reduce and spaces for waste to be stored). This sounds reasonable to me, but can anyone offer their input?
Also, I read in another posting (that I can no longer find) that there is an artificial sand you can purchase from either Home Depot or Lowe's for something like $5 for 50 pounds. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Thank you all!
Mike :jumping:

 

[viper_930]

I use CC and I don't see any problems with it. Just my experience though.
You are refering to Southdown Sand.

 

[aidos]

i use CC as it is the only type avaible in South Australia and i have also not experienced as problems with high NO3 levels

 

[darknes]

I also used half crushed coral and half sand, and haven't had a problem yet..

 

[legion]

I will be the other guy. I used it and ever since I went bare bottom, my nitrates have dropped and it is easy to see where the waste is. I used to look at my tank from underneath to see the spots where the waste wasa builing up, but got tired of moving my rocks to do a good job cleaning. I have not had more than a +10 raise in nitrates in a year. I did have cycle problems due to the waste build up. I would also say it could be done, w/o problems, its just more work.

 

[1journeyman]

I'd vote for getting the CC out of there.
If that's not an option, I wouldn't mix sand in with it. I can't see how you could effectively clean the CC without sucking your sand out.

 

[brit0211]

I dont have my tank set up yet, so i'm speaking from what others have told me on this forum and others,
Use live sand to seed aragonite sand
take out the CC now, especially if you dont have anything else n there yet.

 

[arkey.d]

I have seen other people mixing sand with CC, but the more popular way is to have a deep sand bed.
The sand your thinking of is Playsand, for like a sandbox. Usually people add that sand to the aquarium and then live sand on top of that.

 

[1journeyman]

Well, not really "playsand". Do a search on this board for "southdown", "Yardright" or "Old Castle". Same stuff, just packaged under different names.
There are different types of playsand. I'm sure some are full of things you don't want in your aquarium.

 

[mbrands]

Thank you all for the feedback!
I think I'm in the middle of my cycle. I tested tonight and had:
0.25 ammonia
0.50 nitrite
20 nitrate
I planned to do a 50% water change at the end of the cycle and thought that would be a good time to remove the CC (based on the feedback you all gave me). I am planning to use the Southdown Sand, with a small amount of live sand on top, in place of the CC.
Will moving all the CC around cause another cycle to start? I've got about 50 pounds of LR and a canister filter with a lot of bacteria hosting media.
Thanks again!
Mike

 

[bfoleyiii]

As I understand it if you remove the CC after you finish your cycle you would need to run another cycle as your new sand would be clean and without any of the necessary bacteria needed to break down ammonia.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I am mistaken though.
Bob

 

[mbrands]

Thats where I was confused, Bob. Do I have enough bacteria in the LR and filter? Will removing the CC just start another smaller/shorter cycle?
Any advice?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[bfoleyiii]

I am extreamly new to saltwater, but one thing I have learned is this...*Take it SLOW*. So I would say your would be better of running another cycle to see your new sand bed rather than rush into it and have a spike and lots of fish/corals die off/stress out.
You may also be able to save some of the CC and use it to seed your new sand. Place it into a fine mesh back and lay it in the sand bed during the cycle and get some transfer over, just and idea.
Hope someone chimes in with a more experienced answer for you.
Good luck and enjoy... I know I have enjoyed my last 3 months, even my Xenia roller coster.
Bob

 

[jac913]

I had CC in the beginning, and never had a problem as long as you're gravel vac every month.
Btw, the only reason I switched to sand is b/c I think it's easier for a lot of my creatures.

 

[cresh1966]

I made the same newbie mistake of using cc, but instead of removing all the cc I removed about 10% off one end of my tank and replaced with sand. 4 weeks later exchanged another 10% and so on. all levels remained in the safe zone

 

[unleashed]

All I have ever used in my tank was cc .to cycle my 125 gal tank I added 7 damsels dif types horsehoe crab one serpant star fish the filter feeders sift through the cc and clean it I no longer have the horshoe crab or the star fish do to being appitizers for my puffer but he keep s the cc fairly clean himself along with hermit crabs btw when i first started this tank I ended up with the red algae but once I put the crabs in i havent had a problem since.I'm still a novest at it but so far iI have had my tank for over a year and a half.next tank on order is a 125 square most likely doing a reef