is this cc???...pic inside
- Thread starter swnewb562
- Start date
oceansidefish
Active Member
sure does, its just a smaller grain
jerryatrick
Active Member
Originally Posted by swnewb562
http:///forum/post/2745510
bought some ls but to me it looks like cc....what do u guys think????
It looks like CC. What did the bag say?
http:///forum/post/2745510
bought some ls but to me it looks like cc....what do u guys think????
It looks like CC. What did the bag say?
swnewb562
Member
bought it from a member here, ..but he said it wasnt...it was wet when i picked up so couldnt really tell....but oh well, just anot hard lesson to be learned....now how do i go about taking all this out???... my tank has been cycling for about 4 days....should i just empty out all the water and scoop it all up??....luckily its only a 10 gal...
jerryatrick
Active Member
Originally Posted by swnewb562
http:///forum/post/2745527
bought it from a member here, ..but he said it wasnt...it was wet when i picked up so couldnt really tell....but oh well, just anot hard lesson to be learned....now how do i go about taking all this out???... my tank has been cycling for about 4 days....should i just empty out all the water and scoop it all up??....luckily its only a 10 gal...
Save the water of course. That might be the easiest way. Wait for some more opinions.
http:///forum/post/2745527
bought it from a member here, ..but he said it wasnt...it was wet when i picked up so couldnt really tell....but oh well, just anot hard lesson to be learned....now how do i go about taking all this out???... my tank has been cycling for about 4 days....should i just empty out all the water and scoop it all up??....luckily its only a 10 gal...
Save the water of course. That might be the easiest way. Wait for some more opinions.
oceansidefish
Active Member
hmmm post a FTS, looking at the picture again I am wondering on my suggestions maybe just a large grained LS???
socal57che
Active Member
Aragonite can be pretty big. After washing my last batch of aragonite, I wished I had returned it for a smaller grain.
socal57che
Active Member
Originally Posted by swnewb562
http:///forum/post/2745926
hmm...ill try to post some fts...i was looking at the arogite ls, an my stuff looks very similar ...what is the dowfall if i was to leave in their???
Larger grains allow waste/food to accumulate in your substrate. Sometimes it can lead to a battle with nitrates.
As they dissolve, the granules will get smaller. This is a slow process. If you have any doubts, now is the time to change it for smaller grain sand.
http:///forum/post/2745926
hmm...ill try to post some fts...i was looking at the arogite ls, an my stuff looks very similar ...what is the dowfall if i was to leave in their???
Larger grains allow waste/food to accumulate in your substrate. Sometimes it can lead to a battle with nitrates.
As they dissolve, the granules will get smaller. This is a slow process. If you have any doubts, now is the time to change it for smaller grain sand.
yearofthenick
Active Member
The reason cc (crushed coral) is bad is because it is really good at storing garbage... that's basically the only thing cc does for you. Over time, you'll notice it kick up dust anytime there's surface movement. If you ever wanted to move your tank, you'd be risking the lives of your fish, because as the cc moves, all the garbage it has collected will resurface and cause an ammonia spike.
Live sand is much better because it absorbs the detritus (fish poop and uneaten food), and does an excellent job of filtering out the ammonia and nitrites. It also houses a lot of great detritus-eating pods and provides food for sand-sifting animals. Also, if you have cc, you can't put any sand sifting gobies in there otherwise they won't do well. You can't really put any sand sifting stuff in there because they won't be able to sift larger pieces like cc.
Ok, now that you've had the history lesson, here's what I would do...
I would transfer all the live rock and fish/etc to a bucket or something... just make sure there's swimming room and that all your live rock is fully submerged. Also, make sure you put a powerhead and heater in there because they'll need both. You should probably have a spare heater lying around when you do water changes anyway. Also, it's always good to have a spare powerhead lying around... you could get a cheap one from your LFS... I have a little $12 one that I use. I just throw it in there for some water flow and add the heater to keep them nice and comfortable.
the next thing I would do is take out the remaining tank water and KEEP the water... don't dump it.
Take out all your cc and replace it with live sand... the kind of live sand that comes in thick plastic bags filled with water.
Put everything back in.
You may or may not have an ammonia spike, but if you do, it will be very small. I have done this exact procedure with my daughters used 14gallon biocube and I didn't have any problems whatsoever, most importantly NO ammonia spike. I think if the only thing you change is the sand, you'll be alright... hopefully your live rock will absorb whatever die-off that comes from the live sand... because the sand comes live, I don't think there will be much, which is what gave me the confidence to do it, and what gives me even more confidence to post this advice.
However, this was for cc, not what you have in your tank. As others have said, it's clearly smaller than your run-of-the-mill cc. If you find yourself battling nitrates, then it's an issue you should probably take care of sooner than later.
Hope this helps!
Live sand is much better because it absorbs the detritus (fish poop and uneaten food), and does an excellent job of filtering out the ammonia and nitrites. It also houses a lot of great detritus-eating pods and provides food for sand-sifting animals. Also, if you have cc, you can't put any sand sifting gobies in there otherwise they won't do well. You can't really put any sand sifting stuff in there because they won't be able to sift larger pieces like cc.
Ok, now that you've had the history lesson, here's what I would do...
I would transfer all the live rock and fish/etc to a bucket or something... just make sure there's swimming room and that all your live rock is fully submerged. Also, make sure you put a powerhead and heater in there because they'll need both. You should probably have a spare heater lying around when you do water changes anyway. Also, it's always good to have a spare powerhead lying around... you could get a cheap one from your LFS... I have a little $12 one that I use. I just throw it in there for some water flow and add the heater to keep them nice and comfortable.
the next thing I would do is take out the remaining tank water and KEEP the water... don't dump it.
Take out all your cc and replace it with live sand... the kind of live sand that comes in thick plastic bags filled with water.
Put everything back in.
You may or may not have an ammonia spike, but if you do, it will be very small. I have done this exact procedure with my daughters used 14gallon biocube and I didn't have any problems whatsoever, most importantly NO ammonia spike. I think if the only thing you change is the sand, you'll be alright... hopefully your live rock will absorb whatever die-off that comes from the live sand... because the sand comes live, I don't think there will be much, which is what gave me the confidence to do it, and what gives me even more confidence to post this advice.
However, this was for cc, not what you have in your tank. As others have said, it's clearly smaller than your run-of-the-mill cc. If you find yourself battling nitrates, then it's an issue you should probably take care of sooner than later.
Hope this helps!
nwdyr
Active Member
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
I have used ALL over the years and have found if you dont maintain ANYTHING it will become a nitrate factory. I have one tank with CC and one with sand. I have to maintain BOTH. you know what the leading cause of bad water conditions is????? BAD MAINTANCE! take care of your tank and you can use cc/LS/ small grain/ large grain blah,blah,blah
good luck
dse
Member
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2746142
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
I have used ALL over the years and have found if you dont maintain ANYTHING it will become a nitrate factory. I have one tank with CC and one with sand. I have to maintain BOTH. you know what the leading cause of bad water conditions is????? BAD MAINTANCE! take care of your tank and you can use cc/LS/ small grain/ large grain blah,blah,blah
good luck
+1 i'm the same 1ls 1cc 1mm my new tank tho will be fiji pink sand 0.5-1.5mm and 1mm rep fiji pink base. n i find no diffrence oh and my watchman gobie is great with cc....
http:///forum/post/2746142
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
+1 i'm the same 1ls 1cc 1mm my new tank tho will be fiji pink sand 0.5-1.5mm and 1mm rep fiji pink base. n i find no diffrence oh and my watchman gobie is great with cc....
yearofthenick
Active Member
Originally Posted by lilzeus99
http:///forum/post/2746087
Question from a newbie....
Can you use half and half? CC and LS? Putting the CC on the bottom, and live sand on top? Or will it over time will the LS just settle into the cracks of the CC?
Is this a bad idea? Should I take my CC back and get more LS?
Thanks
shane
I would pick one or the other.
http:///forum/post/2746087
Question from a newbie....
Can you use half and half? CC and LS? Putting the CC on the bottom, and live sand on top? Or will it over time will the LS just settle into the cracks of the CC?
Is this a bad idea? Should I take my CC back and get more LS?
Thanks
shane
I would pick one or the other.
yearofthenick
Active Member
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2746142
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
I have used ALL over the years and have found if you dont maintain ANYTHING it will become a nitrate factory.
Actually, that is not true. If you don't do anything with your live sand, it will eventually help lower your nitrates. Do some research on that... there's a reason you want 6" of untouched sand bed in your refugium, because it converts the nitrate into nitrogen gas. I can show you pictures of my tanks proving this.
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2746142
I have one tank with CC and one with sand. I have to maintain BOTH. you know what the leading cause of bad water conditions is????? BAD MAINTANCE! take care of your tank and you can use cc/LS/ small grain/ large grain blah,blah,blah
good luck
Live sand takes some of the maintenance out of fishkeeping because you barely need to vacuum it. In fact, if you regularly vacuum live sand, you're making it less effective. CC needs to be vacuumed regularly or else you'll develop nitrate problems.
As for maintenance, I want to keep it as simple as possible and make this hobby more enjoyable than a constant chore... which is why I chose live sand and live rock instead of CC and bio-balls. My fish are happy and healthy, so I must be doing something right. My tanks don't look like pond water, my tanks look beautiful, and it's really low maintenance because I chose to put live sand and live rock instead of synthetic balls and manufactured substrate.
Let me ask you this - If THE OCEAN had to decide beween live rock and live sand OR bio balls and crushed coral, which one do you think it would choose? The ocean chose natural means of filtration. Since I'm re-creating the ocean, thats what I will choose as well.
http:///forum/post/2746142
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
Actually, that is not true. If you don't do anything with your live sand, it will eventually help lower your nitrates. Do some research on that... there's a reason you want 6" of untouched sand bed in your refugium, because it converts the nitrate into nitrogen gas. I can show you pictures of my tanks proving this.
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2746142
I have one tank with CC and one with sand. I have to maintain BOTH. you know what the leading cause of bad water conditions is????? BAD MAINTANCE! take care of your tank and you can use cc/LS/ small grain/ large grain blah,blah,blah
Live sand takes some of the maintenance out of fishkeeping because you barely need to vacuum it. In fact, if you regularly vacuum live sand, you're making it less effective. CC needs to be vacuumed regularly or else you'll develop nitrate problems.
As for maintenance, I want to keep it as simple as possible and make this hobby more enjoyable than a constant chore... which is why I chose live sand and live rock instead of CC and bio-balls. My fish are happy and healthy, so I must be doing something right. My tanks don't look like pond water, my tanks look beautiful, and it's really low maintenance because I chose to put live sand and live rock instead of synthetic balls and manufactured substrate.
Let me ask you this - If THE OCEAN had to decide beween live rock and live sand OR bio balls and crushed coral, which one do you think it would choose? The ocean chose natural means of filtration. Since I'm re-creating the ocean, thats what I will choose as well.
geoj
Active Member
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2746142
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
I have used ALL over the years and have found if you dont maintain ANYTHING it will become a nitrate factory. I have one tank with CC and one with sand. I have to maintain BOTH. you know what the leading cause of bad water conditions is????? BAD MAINTANCE! take care of your tank and you can use cc/LS/ small grain/ large grain blah,blah,blah
good luck
You are correct sir!!
The only thing I would say is that people do not understand what good maintenance is and that it changes depending on the type of set-up you are using. So YearOfTheNick is also correct because his tank is set-up different. So I think if you are new try both and see how you like to keep your set-up, it will benefit you in the long run…
PS: Whether the substrate is live-sand or not, depends on your definition of live-sand. If you look in some old books CC would be defined as LS…
http:///forum/post/2746142
I dont know what it is with this site and CC / bio-balls
You are correct sir!!
The only thing I would say is that people do not understand what good maintenance is and that it changes depending on the type of set-up you are using. So YearOfTheNick is also correct because his tank is set-up different. So I think if you are new try both and see how you like to keep your set-up, it will benefit you in the long run…
PS: Whether the substrate is live-sand or not, depends on your definition of live-sand. If you look in some old books CC would be defined as LS…
yearofthenick
Active Member
I never said nwdyr's method was the wrong thing to do, just for the record.
Where I think he was wrong was when he said that a lack of maintenance causes nitrate problems, but a lack of maintenance is necessary in order for the live sand to do what it needs to do. IF you keep kicking up the live sand all the time, it won't do as good of a job absorbing and converting the nitrate into nitrogen gas.
Again, nwdyr's methods of bio balls and cc is not WRONG at all, in fact, i agree that it is an alternative, but it is undeniably higher maintenance than a sand bed. Let me break it down really easy.
You have to wash bio balls regularly. you do not need to take out your live rock and you do not need to wash your live rock regularly.
You need to vacuum crushed coral regularly. You can vacuum live sand every 3-6 months if you want, or leave it and let it do what it does best - remove nitrates.
Where I think he was wrong was when he said that a lack of maintenance causes nitrate problems, but a lack of maintenance is necessary in order for the live sand to do what it needs to do. IF you keep kicking up the live sand all the time, it won't do as good of a job absorbing and converting the nitrate into nitrogen gas.
Again, nwdyr's methods of bio balls and cc is not WRONG at all, in fact, i agree that it is an alternative, but it is undeniably higher maintenance than a sand bed. Let me break it down really easy.
You have to wash bio balls regularly. you do not need to take out your live rock and you do not need to wash your live rock regularly.
You need to vacuum crushed coral regularly. You can vacuum live sand every 3-6 months if you want, or leave it and let it do what it does best - remove nitrates.