live sand vs crushed coral?

salty2275

salty2275

Member
I'm brand new to this hobby and have been doing quite a bit of research lately. Most people on this board recommend using live sand. My lfs is telling me that it's best to use a mix of cc/ls. What are the pros and cons to going ls only, cc/ls mix, or cc only? I have a 75 gallon tank.
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
ok, if you mix cc and sand, the sand will work it's way to the bottom, and you'll be left with cc again... so it's a waste of time and money to mix them.
as for the pros and cons... sand is so much better than cc for a number of reasons. the number one reason is because cc can cause high amounts of nitrates. The texture of cc causes leftover food and waste to get caught in it, where it sits and breaks down into nitrates. Unless you vacuum every inch of your cc weekly, it's not worth it. calcium-based sand also acts as a buffer to help keep your ph at a consistant level. The texture of cc is also bad for bottom-dwelling fish because it can cut their bellies and cause infection
 
salty2275

salty2275

Member
Makes sense to me. I purchased an established system on the big auction site a couple of months ago. It came with crushed coral but I'm thinking it would be better to dump that and get ls. My lfs says the ls alone will solidify and become as hard as concrete. I'm thinking that a decent cleanup crew would resolve that problem. Is it true that it will solidify? If so, how would you resolve the problem? Also, how much ls should I put in? I've heard you can mix it with dead sand. What ratio would you use and how long will it take to seed the ls?
 
J

jdragunas

Guest
uhhhh... is the sand in the ocean just one solid lump of concrete??? no, it won't solitify... as for how much, that's really up to you. i have 1" in my tank.
and actually, if you cycle your tank with the sand, you don't need live sand at all. you can just buy dead sand, and your live rock will seed the sand. It's a waste of $$$ to buy live sand, IMO.
 
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