Crushed Coral VS Live Sand

gillagain

gillagain

New Member
Which is best, I have a 40 Gal. tank with 6 Damsels, and 1 clown. I have been runing with fairly good success, I would like to make some changes as I am learning more about Marine Aquariums. At this time I have a fish only with some dried deco corals, and acrushed coral base I want to add some live corals, and inverts should add a sand bed, and live rock?
 
loopy

loopy

Member
Something isn't quite clear in your post, not sure exactly what your asking.....BUT....don't put the sand over your cc, it will sink to the bottom and you won't even know you have it. Why do I know this? Cuz I did it. Wish, now, that I would have gotten the cc out first. Get rid of the cc...add the sand. CC is a recipe for a mess.......just ask me...uh ha!!!
 
jester805

jester805

Member
When I started out I had a 29 gallon with CC. I liked it ok, but I saw pic's of sand. I moved over to a 75 and put live sand in it. I think it looks a lot better than the CC.
I've heard that CC will keep the "bad" stuff housed in it. It traps it down in there. Sand, however, won't do that. It won't trap it...so that means it can stay out and get filtered out.
My personal opinion....I like the looks of sand a lot better. Just looks a lot nicer and cleaner.
Hope that helps
 
gillagain

gillagain

New Member
I want to take the next step but not sure what it might be, but your replies are great. I was thinking of putting sand over cc.
I want to move towardsa reef tank and not sure where to go with my current setup.
 
gonefishn

gonefishn

Member
About the sand, you say it will look better? I saw some at my LFS and algea was on the side of the glass below the sand level. Can that be safely cleaned like, just prior to a water change without damage to the tanks levels? You know, releasing the "bad stuff". Does algea always grow on the glass below the sand level?
 
mbrands

mbrands

Member

Originally posted by GILLAGAIN
I want to move towardsa reef tank and not sure where to go with my current setup.
Most importantly . . .
1. What lighting do you currently have?
2. What corals do you plan/wish to keep?
I assume you still have a standard NO light that came with the tank. Before buying a new expensive lighting system, research what you'd like to keep in the tank. You might need MH for what you want. If not, you can find PCs cheaper.
 
gillagain

gillagain

New Member
I am new with the use of message boards and have tons of questions for those willing to answer. thanks for your patients in advance.........
 
bill f

bill f

Member
Gonefishin - If the tank you saw has a DSB (3-4+ inches of substrate, that is normal to see the sand discolor below. What your seeing is the waste ammonia converting to nitrates etc. (nitrogen cycle). And when you use a DSB you shouldn't touch it or clean it. Obviously you could clean just below the sand line but you don't want to go deep. Some people cover them bottom 4 inches or so, like with a piece of trim or something, it if you don't like it.
 
gillagain

gillagain

New Member
I do have the lighting that came with tankbut have changed bulb, to "CORAL LIFE" bulb. I'm not really sure what type of corals I want to keep I was hoping to get some advice on preparing tank and choosing Hardy corals. As well as adjustments I may need to make on my filtration system...
Again I know I travel from subject to subject, but I have many questions and I enjoy learning about marine tanks.
 
gonefishn

gonefishn

Member
Thanks Bill.
This sounds like a great idea and covering it would keep the "particular" hubbie from getting off the handle about any funky look.
Gilligan I like the direction you are going.
 
cupcake

cupcake

Member
yay some other newbies! sounds like we are all at about the same level of understanding, and all want to convert to reefs. please let me know if you guys find out anything particularly interesting or just want to discuss! Cupcake9143@cs.com:cheer:
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
I have recently change subs from CC to sand (with a lot of help from the boards) 50 FOWLRLS some mushrooms. Don't put sand over CC. The CC traps so much nastiness. I had a bad nitrate issue with the CC. Sand is so much better. I have less then 2" (1"sand 1"LS) w/o algea problems and water chem is great.
Sand looks great and my clown thinks it's his own personnel playground

Us noobs have to stick together

Good luck to all
Tim
 
mbrands

mbrands

Member

Originally posted by GILLAGAIN
I do have the lighting that came with tankbut have changed bulb, to "CORAL LIFE" bulb.
You really need to find out the output of the light you purchased before getting any corals. "CoraLife" is a name brand and not indicative of any specific output.
 
rubberduck

rubberduck

Active Member

Originally posted by mbrands
You really need to find out the output of the light you purchased before getting any corals. "CoraLife" is a name brand and not indicative of any specific output.
DO UR HOMEWORK:yes:
 
mbrands

mbrands

Member
Its hard to answer that without knowing what you'd like to keep. If money is no object, definitely MH! If you don't plan to keep hard corals or clams, PCs should be ok. I'd do some research, find out what you like, then post those specific things in a new thread. :D
 
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