Sand vs Crushed Coral

jbret

jbret

New Member
I see lots of responses and post were people say they wish they would have used sand instead of cc but no one really says why. What is the advantage to having sand vs cc? Is easier to keep clean? I was trying to decide what to use in my new 90 gallon tank. Seems like cc would be easier to keep clean. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
tangy-tang

tangy-tang

Member
I have seen the same question alot. I have even ask the same question. The answer that you will get most often is that CC holds alot of junk down in side of it since it is hollow-like down in there. Sand is very compacted instead of hollow-like so not as much stuff gets down in it. The junk that I am referring too is uneaten food, waste, and other stuff that causes bad water conditions.
Hope that Helps!
 
engineer

engineer

Member
Well you are right it is a matter of opinion. I used CC in my 55 for 2+years, constantly had issues with nitrates, no matter how much I vacuumed the CC when I did water changes, couldnt get them below 20ppm. After scouring theses post on here for hours I decided in my new 120 I was gonna use Sand. I have only had it setup for about 4weeks now and my trates only got up to 20 @ the highest and now is down between 5 & 10. I do routine water changes just as I did with the 55, but dont vacuum now because of the sand. If you decide to go with sand you need to figure out either DSB or just a shallow static bed for decoration........
 
engineer

engineer

Member
Originally Posted by jbret
I see lots of responses and post were people say they wish they would have used sand instead of cc but no one really says why. What is the advantage to having sand vs cc? Is easier to keep clean? I was trying to decide what to use in my new 90 gallon tank. Seems like cc would be easier to keep clean. Thanks in advance for the help.

Plus see you are new here!!! Welcome aboard!!!!!
 
dut

dut

Member
If you go with sand you can get the benefit of it hosting bacteria and helping to filter your water just as your LR does(to my understandinig this will only work with a DSB of 4 inches at least, preferable 6. CC does allow uneaten food and what not to fall thru where it will decay and hurt water quality. From personal experience I have 0 nitrate reading after switching to a sandbed.
 
engineer

engineer

Member
Originally Posted by Dut
If you go with sand you can get the benefit of it hosting bacteria and helping to filter your water just as your LR does(to my understandinig this will only work with a DSB of 4 inches at least, preferable 6. CC does allow uneaten food and what not to fall thru where it will decay and hurt water quality. From personal experience I have 0 nitrate reading after switching to a sandbed.
Correct about the DSB added filtration. just houses different bacteria in the non oxygenated area of the sand that further completes the cycle....
 
jbret

jbret

New Member
Originally Posted by engineer
Plus see you are new here!!! Welcome aboard!!!!!
Thanks for the welcome! If you have a sand bed you do not vacuum the sand, just do water changes?
 
jbret

jbret

New Member
Originally Posted by sign guy
just get a good clean up crew and do water changes imo 10% a week.
What would be a good list for a "good cleanup crew" for 90gls?
 
engineer

engineer

Member
Clean up crews are a must. You cant vacuum sand all of it will get picked up. gobies are an excellent sand sifter/movers. basically you want to keep the sand stirred up(so to speak). You just want to make sure to that if you do do sand you want a finer sand, otherwise you may as well use a thin layer of CC. If you get sand thats not fine it has lots of hiding places for detritus(= nitrates) like CC
 
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