Live sand or crushed coral

[casey]

I am getting a 75 gal tank that has been running for a year or 2 now and it has live rock and crushed corals. at the moment I do not know if it is a reef or not (mom's friend). I have to move the tank of coarse so do I exchange the crushed coral for sand or keep it. What do most reef tanks have?

 

[fshhub]

most of us here with reefs use sand, during a move is a good time to do so, if you are gonna do it. And if you do, i would reccommend live sand, since you undoubtably will have fish and invrrts that you probably need to get back into the tank fairly fast.

 

[volitan]

I think most of the people on this board are going to tell you that a DSB is the best way to go. I've never had one, but I've read alot of good things about them on these boards. I've also listened to some horror stories at my LFS from different people who have tried them. I originally set my 75 gallon reef up with CC, and it is still doing great. Contrary to popular belief, it is maintenance free. I've never vacuumed it, and I've never had any trate problems. Thats not to say however, that you won't. All tanks are different. The best advise I can give you would be to choose one or the other based on your personal judgement, and stick with your decision. Good luck! HTH

 

[daisy]

I've had a 55 with cc for two years. The cc was never really an issue, but I could never get my trates below 40. Every tank is different.
But the real reason I'm switching to LS for my upgrade to 75, and starting with LS in my new 58 is that there are critters that I want that need sand in order to thrive. There are gobies you can't get with CC, and there are detrivores that need LS as well. There are inverts that really need a sandy substrate as well.
Just something else to think about. I don't know about any livestock that requires CC the way so many require a sand bed.