live sand or crushed coral +++

[tigerseyes01]

hey everyone .. i was thinkin of turning my 55 gal into a salt water tank . but was wondering on the substrate .. what is better live sand or crushed coral. or is a combo of both even better... also would a yellow tang hurt a carpet anemone .. thanks everyone

 

[sao72358]

I was wondering the same as well. I currently have 40 lbs of crushed coral and was considering adding 40 lbs of live sand on top of that. Any advantages to this? disadvantages?

 

[thewolfman777]

i started with cc and i wished i would have done a l/s bed instead. i dont thin you can mix the two in what i have read in past posts, but anything is possible and i am sure people do mix the two, i just wouldnt IMO.

 

[badkjb2]

i had a carpet anemone and the yallow tang bothered it costantly. the yellow tang died, and i got another one, it never pays attention to it. i guess it depends on your luck

 

[wrassecal]

I have arognite sand with crushed coral on top and wish I didn't have the cc. I love the sand bottom look and ease of care everyone talks about. I wish I knew a good way to get rid of the crushed coral. Anybody got any ideas??? other than a new tank

 

[royce]

Definitely go with the live sand. I had cc for many years but set up my new tank with sand and what a difference! Not only does it look better, but it is less maintenance and assists in your filtering. If you use both, eventually your sand will work its way to the bottom. You can use a small amount of live sand to seed the rest of your sand and save a lot of $$, I used 20 lbs LS + 80 lbs Southdown in my 55.

 

[jamesp]

Go with the LS. Easier to take care of and look nicer IMO.
Plus it's good for the tank.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

If you already have CC and it's about 1 - 1.5" high then just put 3.5" of LS right on top - This will trap the nitrates already caught in your CC and your anerobic level is established.

 

[wrassecal]

won't the ls eventually seep through the cc? that's is what I'm worried about.

 

[jsolomon]

If you have a CC base, then you cannot just dump sand on top of that. You will kill the bacteria you have established in your CC. After time you will also start to experience a "rotting" smell. This will be due to all the bacteria dying off. Take the CC out and lay down sand if that is what you want to do, but dont lay the sand over the CC.

 

[nmoran]

I had cc and then I changed to live sand, by just putting the sand over it but eventually the cc was showing more and more. So I was able to get the cc out by scooping them both up with a stainer and then shaking it around in the water. The sand fell through and most of the cc stayed in the strainer. I had another take I could put the fish into though. So if you don't this would probably be a bad idea.

 

[fishfreak100]

Crused coral atracacts nucince algae.

 

[iswimwithmyfish]

i have a combo of both but if any cc gets turned up, the nuisance algae does a great job to make sure i notice it

 

[lu]

Sand is absolutely the best you can use. It looks so much nicer, easier to keep clean and you can see where all the crabs and stuff have been. ( I love all the little "footprints" they leave behind...LOL
Don't put sand over coral, it's a mess and you'll eventually have to change it out anyway because the cc will makes it way toward the top while your sand will settle to the bottom.