switch from crushed coral to sand?

islandkoa

islandkoa

Member
My SW fish/reef aquarium has been running for over 3 months now and everything is in specs. I have crushed coral on the bottom and wondered if the benefits of having sand would offset the process of switching to sand. If so, does anyone know the best way to switch to sand. . or should I just keep it the way it is.
Copepods seem to be thriving on the crushed coral bottom but I wonder how my poor little invertribates (serpent starfish, crabs, shrimps) are coping.
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
Originally Posted by Islandkoa
http:///forum/post/2645149
My SW fish/reef aquarium has been running for over 3 months now and everything is in specs. I have crushed coral on the bottom and wondered if the benefits of having sand would offset the process of switching to sand. If so, does anyone know the best way to switch to sand. . or should I just keep it the way it is.
Copepods seem to be thriving on the crushed coral bottom but I wonder how my poor little invertribates (serpent starfish, crabs, shrimps) are coping.
First off, if no one has said it yet, welcome to the boards. IMO, better now than later if you are going to make the switch for sure. How heavily stocked is your three month old tank? CC vs. sand is a heavily debated topic, do a thread search, and you will find at least 50 threads in this forum alone. You'll also find lots on switching; both good and bad
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
I switched from CC to LS and it was really simple!!
I scooped out as much CC with a platic cup as I could. Then I used a siphon to get as much of the left over CC out as possible. I dumped some of the water back into the tank as I was siphoning.
Then I cut the bag open and twisted it closed.....put the bag all the way at the bottom of the tank, un-twisted the bag and started to SLOWLY raise it out of the water. It worked great!! It did cloud up the tank to the point that you couldn't see more than a quarter inch into the tank, but I did that about a year ago and all the livestock I had in there are still alive!! The cloudiness will go away in about a day or two.
But I definitely suggest switch to LS as it is much easier to clean and better for some of the inverts.
 
payton 350

payton 350

Member
if you rinse your sand very thoroughly (which you should).....you can avoid the cloudiness....you may get a little....but it should settle very quickly
 
camfish

camfish

Active Member
Welcome welcome. I really like sand more than CC and it is a heck of a lot easier to care for plus cc tends to create high nitrate levels. I recommend siphoning the cc first, you would be surprised how much crap is in there and then you carefully remove it with a cup or something of that sort. Then you rinse all of your sand really well and get a nice cupful. After that you want to make sure all of your powerheads and hob filters and such are turned off because they could become ruined if sand gets in them. Then you carefully and slowly put it on the bottom, a funnel is nice. I like to wait a few minutes for the cloudiness to go down before repeating the process, expecially if you already have some livestock. Good luck and don't rush it. The last thing you want is a cloudy mess.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by camfish
http:///forum/post/2645536
Welcome welcome. I really like sand more than CC and it is a heck of a lot easier to care for plus cc tends to create high nitrate levels. I recommend siphoning the cc first, you would be surprised how much crap is in there and then you carefully remove it with a cup or something of that sort. Then you rinse all of your sand really well and get a nice cupful. After that you want to make sure all of your powerheads and hob filters and such are turned off because they could become ruined if sand gets in them. Then you carefully and slowly put it on the bottom, a funnel is nice. I like to wait a few minutes for the cloudiness to go down before repeating the process, expecially if you already have some livestock. Good luck and don't rush it. The last thing you want is a cloudy mess.
Forgot about that!! Good catch camfish!! Do make sure you turn off HOB filters and powerheads in order not to kill them!!
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Another welcome to the boards!
I had CC in my fowlr tank for about 7 years, switched to reef this year, then changed out the cc for a shallow sand bed. I did it mostly for aesthetic reasons as I really like the look of reef tanks w/sand beds! yes, the CC was way nasty, even though I did stir it up regularly to filter out the debris. Having a new tank, it shouldn't be too bad at all if you do make the switch soon.
As mentioned above, rinse your sand well and expect cloudiness in the tank when doing the change. I used a canister filter to clean up the dirty water resulting from my changeout after I placed the sand.
It's a personal choice to make the change and as Scopus Tang said, there are lots of threads on this subject, including one of mine.
 
islandkoa

islandkoa

Member
I think that I will try the half and half suggestion so I can keep the fleura (copepods, bacteria) already present in the cc, make the inhabitants (which perfer sand) happy, and ease my workload so I can enjoy the beach myself.
 
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