Live sand and first coral help

[alyssahum]

I have a 40G that has been up and running for a few yrs now. I never knew that live sand was better than crushed coral. In fact, the pet store said that sand traps bad gas, not the cc. And, you must disturb the sand every so often to relase the gas bubbles. My pet store is definitely anti-sand. Why would they say that when every thread I have read said sand is so much better. Did I miss reading something bad about having sand? So, I need to know why to switch to sand, where I can get it from (I have 45lbs. of live rock, and my tank is definitely cycled), and how cheap it is?. Also, what would be a wise investment for my fist coral or other plant. I'm going for neat looking, but cheap and hardy. Any info would be great, thanks.

 

[viet-tin]

CC will trap nitrates ammonia and nitrites and when disturbed will release them into your system causing a spike. It is true that sand will trap gasses but that it why you purchase a cleaning crew to aeriate the sand and to keep these levels from building up.