crushed coral vs sand

jcb101

jcb101

Member
I have a 55 set up with crushed coral with live sand on top, I have a 10 gal with live sand, I am in process of setting up coral only 29 high with lr and thought to use crushed coral and ls, but I have been reading alot about sand only and adding sand activator from IPSF. Can someone give me an opinion why sand only? I would like to set this tank up soon. Already water and salt just a filter without media for water movement and a skimmer. Thanks
 
bradsmack

bradsmack

Member
I was reading in a book the other day that using Live Sand almost always 99.9% of the time reduces your nitrate levels. Personally i like the look of fine aragonite with live sand mixed together, that makes a nice sand bed for a reef. There is also the possibility to not use any sand or substrate at all? That would best if you were going to use a wet/dry filter... But its your choice its your tank! I have crushed coral in my 29 reef, because when i went to set up my tank 2 years ago, it was supposed to be fish only but then i converted it after i learned about the hobby, the LFS did not give me a decision when i bought the setup they just go here youll need this! I wish i had arag sand and live sand though! Its easy cleaning too! just fan it!
 
anthony812

anthony812

Member
hey i think you should get rid of the crushed coral. It is really big and allows stuff to get stuck in between it like food and fish waste. You should just use aragonite sand. The reason sand reduces nitrates much better is taht there is so much surface area per grain of sand. There can be a lot of denitrifying bacteria on a single grain of sand. Multipy that by you know how many grains of sand and thats why it reduces nitrates really well. Its up tpo you just lending some opinoin
 
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