Crushed Coral...turning black
- Thread starter thedj
- Start date
buzz
Active Member
Crushed Coral is a trap for detritus...
Personally, I would get rid of that and go with LS. However when you stir it up, you will often spike your levels (trates, possibly trites and phosphates). I would remove any fish/corals, etc. from the tank until you are done and can check the levels.
Personally, I would get rid of that and go with LS. However when you stir it up, you will often spike your levels (trates, possibly trites and phosphates). I would remove any fish/corals, etc. from the tank until you are done and can check the levels.
blazehok68
Active Member
i agree with buzz, crushed coral is the worste possible choice for a substrate. not only is it bad for a reef tank but for any tank. it traps all kinds of crap and your cleaners cant get it. common newbie mistake, hell i did it too.
T
thomas712
Guest
Old instructions but may be of some use.
This is project that can take some time and effort, I therefore believe that one of the safest methods is to find temporary homes for any fish and corals until you have completed the change.
You will need one or more containers like Rubbermaid bins to house your fish and one for your live rock and corals, this will also mean having enough heaters (if in the north) and power heads to keep things warm and circulating. I would also recommend saving much of the water from the existing tank without disturbing the crushed coral substrate yet. You will also need to make some fresh saltwater as if you were doing a water change which in essence you will be.
If using dry sand:
So here we go – Step 1: Remove any existing rocks, corals, fish, and other inverts to their temporary homes using the existing water from the tank, and save much of the water left if possible. Make sure that any existing filter material containing your bacteria bed be kept wet and circulating if possible, this will help prevent severe spikes from the change, or at least keep them to a minimum.
Step 2. Remove the crushed coral. This can be a mess depending on how your CC was maintained; there could be plenty of evil waste and fouled water here. Now here if you wish or need to you can save some of this CC to seed your sand bed by placing it in nylons and making some CC nylon balls 6 or 8 should be plenty.
Step 3. With the tank empty its time to do a complete cleaning of the inside of the tank, scrape off that old algae, check the silicone seems for any problems.
Step 4. My preference here is to place a layer of egg crate down on the bottom of the tank making sure that it is still an inch or two away from the sides of the glass. This way the egg crate will help to prevent any reefalanche that may happen. Some will build a PVC stand to place the rocks on so that the sand bed will not cover several inches of expensive live rock. Others will use cheap base rock and place the live rock on top of that.
Step 5. With the egg crate, PVC stands, or bare bottom tank in place. Place a layer of sand down, about 1 inch. Then start to aquasacpe using your rocks that you will place on the bottom of the sand bed, twist the rock in a little to help stabilize it. Then pour the rest of the sand in.
Step 6. Slowly add your water, the speed at which you do this may depend on if you have some corals in the first pieces of live rock that you placed in your tank, but for the most part the slower the better, this may help to reduce cloudiness.
Options include using all dry sand, all live sand, mix of both. If you can get your hands on the Southdown then that is what I would use.
Now days if you are using dry sand then I suggest pre curing it, just use old water from a water change to cure it for a week or so using heater and powerhead. This will help get the bacteria to coating the new sand and it will not cloud up as much or as long as it would if you just tried pouring dry sand in the tank.
This is project that can take some time and effort, I therefore believe that one of the safest methods is to find temporary homes for any fish and corals until you have completed the change.
You will need one or more containers like Rubbermaid bins to house your fish and one for your live rock and corals, this will also mean having enough heaters (if in the north) and power heads to keep things warm and circulating. I would also recommend saving much of the water from the existing tank without disturbing the crushed coral substrate yet. You will also need to make some fresh saltwater as if you were doing a water change which in essence you will be.
If using dry sand:
So here we go – Step 1: Remove any existing rocks, corals, fish, and other inverts to their temporary homes using the existing water from the tank, and save much of the water left if possible. Make sure that any existing filter material containing your bacteria bed be kept wet and circulating if possible, this will help prevent severe spikes from the change, or at least keep them to a minimum.
Step 2. Remove the crushed coral. This can be a mess depending on how your CC was maintained; there could be plenty of evil waste and fouled water here. Now here if you wish or need to you can save some of this CC to seed your sand bed by placing it in nylons and making some CC nylon balls 6 or 8 should be plenty.
Step 3. With the tank empty its time to do a complete cleaning of the inside of the tank, scrape off that old algae, check the silicone seems for any problems.
Step 4. My preference here is to place a layer of egg crate down on the bottom of the tank making sure that it is still an inch or two away from the sides of the glass. This way the egg crate will help to prevent any reefalanche that may happen. Some will build a PVC stand to place the rocks on so that the sand bed will not cover several inches of expensive live rock. Others will use cheap base rock and place the live rock on top of that.
Step 5. With the egg crate, PVC stands, or bare bottom tank in place. Place a layer of sand down, about 1 inch. Then start to aquasacpe using your rocks that you will place on the bottom of the sand bed, twist the rock in a little to help stabilize it. Then pour the rest of the sand in.
Step 6. Slowly add your water, the speed at which you do this may depend on if you have some corals in the first pieces of live rock that you placed in your tank, but for the most part the slower the better, this may help to reduce cloudiness.
Options include using all dry sand, all live sand, mix of both. If you can get your hands on the Southdown then that is what I would use.
Now days if you are using dry sand then I suggest pre curing it, just use old water from a water change to cure it for a week or so using heater and powerhead. This will help get the bacteria to coating the new sand and it will not cloud up as much or as long as it would if you just tried pouring dry sand in the tank.
T
thomas712
Guest
Originally posted by theDJ
I stired up some of bed and just under the surface the cc was black. What does this mean? Is it going anaerobic? I was thinking of removing most of the bed and leaving behind about 1/4" to 1/2". Currently its 2-3". Advice on this would be great.
Ian
If you had actually disturbed an anerobic area you would be able to smell it, and it could make your tank crash, kill fish, inverts..etc..
I suspect you found a nutrient rich area that may have been growing black cyno, at least its possible, I've seen it before with crushed coral.
I had a 55 with about 3 inches of crushed coral and it was always a maintanence challange, nitrates over 100ppm, Iwas doing 50% or more water changes with vaccuming the cc but always the nitrates would come back.
My suggestion would be to remove it all, every bit of it and go with aragonite sand. Your tank will most definatly thank you for it.
Thomas
