Whats the deal w/ Crushed Coral?

s14joe

s14joe

Member
I already searched and read a ton of posts but I still have questions. I just bought a 20g tank and the whole setup. I bought live rock and Cc. Now, when I bought the cc I rinsed it out and then added to the tank. After that that water was completely cloudy for a day and a half. Now the water has cleared but still has a haze like look to it. The tank looks like it's glowing. Since I'm still in early stages of development I have decided to go w/ a DSB rather then Cc. I'm going to my LFS and going to buy sand tomarrow. My question is besides the lower maintenance,will the sand help provide clearer water opposed to the CC? My water is in good shape but it looks like the glow that they use in a Barbara Walters special! Please school me...
 
psychoskater

psychoskater

Member
This happened to me with crushed coral. I think I didnt rinse it enough because when it did finally clear, whenever i would stir it around it would come up again. That really sucked.
 
s14joe

s14joe

Member
yeah, i rinsed it really good. I thought this would reduce the cloud. I dunno, I'm chucking the CC anyways for sand so we will see what happends.
 
psychoskater

psychoskater

Member
Holy crap your chucking it....not really that big of deal i just wish you lived a little closer so you good send it to me....lol
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
The cloudiness is micro particulates floating in the water...you will get the same thing with sand...it settles and clears up.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
If you go with a aragonite based sand there will still be particles suspended in the water that will create that cloudy look. I'd suggest you "not" rinse the new sand. Let it settle on its own. The finer particles you would rinse away are very beneficial to the developement of a DSB. In time bacterias will weight the small particles down and clouding will not be a major issue.:cool:
Myself I prefer aragonite based sands over CC for numerous reasons...but the primary reason is the appearence and aragonites improved abilities to provide additional filtration.:cool:
 
s14joe

s14joe

Member
I just got 50lbs of southdown tropical sand from home depot. Pschoskater: honestly it would probably be a better idea if you bought in a store cuz the shipping alone would most likely be just as costly as new stuff. I just got home from work so I am going to start on my tank.:)
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
The CC gave my tank a weird cloud to it to, almost sorry I went with it. I think I am going to redo my tank anywho with a sand bed. Just set up a 20 for my 2 little fishies in the mean time. The go with a all sand bed.
~kissiefish~
 
s14joe

s14joe

Member
ok,just got finished switching and of course it's like a storm brewing in there but I feel a little better. I might just throw some cc in there just for an ocean floor look,not much just a sprinkle or 2.
 
s14joe

s14joe

Member
BTW, I used to work for home depot and I have to tell you that all the home depot's are not the same as far as products or brand names go. Yes they do carry much of the same items but other things vary, like the brand names. I had to go to 2 home depot's before I was able to find the right sand. The first had Quikrete sand and some other playsand only. They did however have Southdown also.....it was lime they use for lines on a baseball field! They second one was paydirt.
 
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