I decided cc is better...

[yimmy]

Okay this is a huge debatable topic, I don't want to get anyone flaming but my mind has clicked. CC is better for a FOWLR tank and LS is better for a reef tank. This is my reason, LS is benneficial because it gets anarobic zones which helps break down the nitrates. Typically you fish only tank is stocked more than a reef tank. That means you have a lot more nitrates than your sand can handle and it will turn to the bad anarobic which was created by ug filters. If you have a shallow cc sand bed then your clean up crew can get it you can also vacum it. My personal opinion is not go with the big bulky cc, but stuff a bit bigger than salt "aragonite". For a reef tank LS is benneficial because the tank won't be producing as much nitrates so the LS becomes benneficial. Just my opinion don't want to start a huge thing, but I'm just curious what kind of tank you have, and whats your substrate and why do you have it. To me it just seems LS is whats "in" and everyone switches to it. Not trying to get anyone flamed up about this but would like to get some opinions, by the way I have a 1/2in cc sand bed I have an FOWLR tank
Jimmy

 

[grapefruit]

i agree, nice and short and to the point.

 

[susieq]

I just finished the "change" This picture is 1/2 way through. I'm very happy I changed.
I have 2 sea urchins, 1 clown, 1 royal gramma, 1 lawnmower blenny, crabs and shrimp.

 

[yimmy]

??? Do you agree, or do you think I'm wrong, and if I'm wrong on what?

 

[yimmy]

Do you have a reef or a FOWLR?

 

[27mtaylor]

I took Sly's advice last month and removed a couple inches of my CC. I have it down to about 1 inch now. With my 2.5+ inches of CC, I was reading nitrate levels at 40 ppm. Now since I have removed much of the CC, my nitrates are in between 15-20. I keep hoping that with a few more water changes (and I hope to add about 20 more pounds of Liverock), I can get them under 10.

 

[grapefruit]

yep cc is the way to for a fowlr imo as well

 

[yimmy]

My tanks been up for bit more than a month, I have 1/2in of cc and nitrates are below 5. When it's fully stocked they won't be more than 10

 

[grapefruit]

cc is the way to go

 

[popnfrresh]

Thats why then . Your tank has been up for only a month. Right now its prolly still finishing the cycle or has just finished. Wait another year and report back on how the crushed coral is doing.

 

[yimmy]

Mine isn't like powder, it's kind of a tiny bit bigger than salt...reminds me of the stuff on the beach.

 

[yimmy]

I'm not trying to flame up but how does LS benefit me or better than CC in a FOWLR tank. Thats how LS works is it uses anarobic bacteria to break down nitrates. So when you get to many nitrates it can't break it down, so then you have a bunch of trapped nitrates. Verse my aragonite is so thin so it can't be trapped, and I vacum and is literally 1/4in thick and 1/2in thick at deep spots. I would like a reason from someone other than it just traps nitrates or it sucks, I want an explanation, if it's a good one than I'll switch, I honestly just don't see any bennefits

 

[teen]

i totally agree yimmy,
i have a 45gl fowlr tank, and i have cc as my substrate. it reminds me of the stuff on the beach, its basically a mixture of sand and crushed shells. i have about a 1/4in to 3/4in depending on where youre measuring in the tank. i think its working out fine, and ive had it set up about 7-8 months now.
ive had nitrate problems, readings as high as 40, but i keep it under control with water changes and vaccuming. ive got about 20 lbs of live rock in there.
will adding more live rock help keep down nitrates?
also, when i vaccum this stuff the water that i just vaccumed out is so brown, i cant picture seeing a DSB last in a fowlr for more than a year without crashing. i can see that the cc will collect more junk and turn it into nitrates because it has more crevaces, but with time a DSB will do the same, which is why i agree that cc is better for a FOWLR.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Yimmy
I'm not trying to flame up but how does LS benefit me or better than CC in a FOWLR tank. Thats how LS works is it uses anarobic bacteria to break down nitrates. So when you get to many nitrates it can't break it down, so then you have a bunch of trapped nitrates. Verse my aragonite is so thin so it can't be trapped, and I vacum and is literally 1/4in thick and 1/2in thick at deep spots. I would like a reason from someone other than it just traps nitrates or it sucks, I want an explanation, if it's a good one than I'll switch, I honestly just don't see any bennefits
Yimmy, you don't understand "trapped" nitrates...
Nitrates can turn into toxic gas (Hydrogen Sulfide??) IF you do not properly maintain your deep sand bed. It has NOTHING to do with "overloading" your tank with nitrates and "trapping" them.
You say you vaccuum your CC. Do you get the CC in the back of your tank? Under the edges of your live rock? In between rocks? That's where CC will collect waste and set up your nitrate factory. Sand is much more fine, therefore, waste and food tends to stay on the surface to get eaten and filtered. CC grabs and holds onto detritus.
Aragonite sand breaks down and maintains pH better than CC.
Sand provides a better home for many detritus feeding organisms.

 

[socal57che]

Hey journeyman
I knew it wouldn't take you long to find this.
I have a DSB in my 100 gal and I experimented with shallow sand/beach pebbles when I reset my 75. I've never used cc and with the results I've had with sand I probably never will. Not to say it's bad or anything, but why change a good thing? I have tons of bristles and spaghetti worms and my sand is virtually spotless. Also have lots of micro-brittles.
I like my sand.

 

[symon]

I have had my tank up for about a year, I am in the process of removing CC to replace with Sand , My mitrates where always higher then i would like, just in the last couple of weeks of removing aboit an inch of cc i show marked improvement!
SOrry LS is the way to go! No more CC for me!

 

[stanlalee]

wether it "traps" nitrate or not I use it and my nitrates test zero every day of the week. Tank is well established but only been converted to reef about 4 months ago. whatever a vaccum cant get to crabs and shrimp can. I only vacuum with water changes every 3wks. I use to at least get a nitrate reading (still less than 10ppm) pre reef.

 

[mrdc]

I switched to cc more for the look. I also like the fact that I don't have to clean it. That job is done well by the nassarius snails. The sand will be brown and when I feed the nassarious snails are off to the races and 15 minutes later, the sand is clean.

 

[crazyaqua]

LS is the way to go used cc in the beginning and i had high nitrates and all kind of problems even with water changes and vaccuuming up the waste booo to cc thumbs up to LS

 

[popnfrresh]

Think about this. when you vacuum you are actually killing/taking inverts and small creatures out of your tank. Thre are lots of life that live in the substrate that you are taking out.
Also its not the nitrates that get into the cc its the fish waste, uneaten food, dead animals. They get into the rock because the space between the cc is larger than sand. Then the tuff decomposes there and the end result is nitrates.