Substrate Poll

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thomas712

Guest
Welcome to the Board Joe :)
Thanks for the response JoeR. I used crushed coral for a long time myself. Always battled high nitrates and algea, until I started using RO/DI water and cut way back on the feeding, then it became managable. Still my filtration wasn't the best.
Crushed coral will trap fish waste and uneaten food, as it decays it fouls the water and drives nitrates up where you don't want them to be. If I had even had a skimmer back then I think things would have been a little better. Things were even worse when I had and Undergravel filter, what a joke that was.
Have you thought about switching to aragonite sand?
Thomas
 
cgr

cgr

Member
I looked for Southdown and could not find it. So I bought play sand (silica) from Toys"R"Us. I switched about 6 weeks ago and so far so good except for a drop in my PH whic I have to monitor more closely.
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
6 inch sandbed of Pure Caribbean Aragonite...a brand that is much less expensive than carib -seas stuff, and has a more varied grain size, much similar to that of the actual ocean!
good luck
jon
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member
I use a mix as well
5 Gallon has about 1 pound of silica, 2 pounds of scrounged live sand, 1/2 pound of crushed coral from LFS tanks and I will be adding a layer of southdown shortly
20 gallon 1 1/2 inches of play sand - white gulf beach sand - made in illinios and sold @ wal-mart and 3 inches of southdown on top of that .....
I have had red slime in both tanks and I believe it to be because of poor water flow - it is gone in the 5 gallon and I am slowly adjusting power heads in the 20 and it seems to be disappering there as well
interesting post - think Joe is right more silica answers than votes!!
Welcoem Joe!
 
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thomas712

Guest
Nearly 300 members online and I can't get another 70 votes? comon people.. :D Please :D
You don't have to post just vote and go on your way.
 
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