Crushed Coral
- Thread starter magickyl
- Start date
jjlittle
Member
I have CC and do regular water changes and i try to vaccum it every couple months I never was able to get mine away from 20 either till I did a refrug with macro which now I am about 5 and I have not vaccumed in about 4 months. I will say I wish I had done sand but what is done is done and it looks good just little more to take care of.
pjmumie
Member
I have heard many people say that they most highly recommend sand over CC because the sand creates a natural filtering environment with aerobic and anaerobic bacterias in the sand. Sand is also maintenance free for the most part and you don't vacuum it.
Many "footed" animals such as snails or anemones react poorly to CC because of the sharp edges. I think some of the good worms that are normally in sand do not like CC either for the same reason.
I have sand and love it and so do my animals.
Many "footed" animals such as snails or anemones react poorly to CC because of the sharp edges. I think some of the good worms that are normally in sand do not like CC either for the same reason.
I have sand and love it and so do my animals.
tither
Member
Originally Posted by magickyl
I want peoples opinion on crushed coral. I have found that when using crushed coral in a tank you can never have a zero nitrate reading. Mine stays at a reading of 20ppm and will never go lower than that. I do regular water changes with RO water and do not ever overfeed.
you are correct.. never a zero, without a good denitrification bed of some sort. you can use a refugem :notsure: (spelling) with macro, or you can run a jubeart :notsure: (spelling) method. i have personally had super succes with it for over 15 years. for sure though cc is not a good bottom for a reef tank. let me know if you need me to explain the jubeart :notsure: happy reefing
I want peoples opinion on crushed coral. I have found that when using crushed coral in a tank you can never have a zero nitrate reading. Mine stays at a reading of 20ppm and will never go lower than that. I do regular water changes with RO water and do not ever overfeed.
you are correct.. never a zero, without a good denitrification bed of some sort. you can use a refugem :notsure: (spelling) with macro, or you can run a jubeart :notsure: (spelling) method. i have personally had super succes with it for over 15 years. for sure though cc is not a good bottom for a reef tank. let me know if you need me to explain the jubeart :notsure: happy reefing
mine?
Member
Originally Posted by PJMumie
Many "footed" animals such as snails or anemones react poorly to CC because of the sharp edges. I think some of the good worms that are normally in sand do not like CC either for the same reason.
If you have CC on the bottom with a good 4 or 5 in of sand on top, would that work or do they keep digging intill they hit bottom?
Many "footed" animals such as snails or anemones react poorly to CC because of the sharp edges. I think some of the good worms that are normally in sand do not like CC either for the same reason.
If you have CC on the bottom with a good 4 or 5 in of sand on top, would that work or do they keep digging intill they hit bottom?
jjlittle
Member
I did LS under my CC and so it does help that I have the Bacteria etc from the LS my CC is loaded with life as well btut tank is been up for a year. I just lightly vaccum every 4 months or so i wish i had done sand but i dont want to do it now for it will make a mess of my beatiful tank.
mudplayerx
Active Member
You'd be better off having no substrate in your tank than having crushed coral. My opinion is that aragonite sand is the very best. If you cannot afford this, silica sand is probably your best bet.
tither
Member
yes, aragonite sand is the very best, though you must have lots of live stuff- critters, worms, snails, etc... otherwise it will calcify and become like a brick. a plennum under 3-4 inches of aragonite will act as a perfect denitrification bed and solve your nitrate problems, it will also cut your water changes down to ever 3-6 months depending on how good your skimmer is and how much you feed your fish. i only had a few fish in my reef and they ate out of and off of the reef(5 fish in a 120 show). i added no fish food for them and did water changes once a year just cause. never really had any nitrates 0-5ppm tops. happy reefing