Florida Crushed Coral

[ferretmath]

So I'm setting up my first SW aquarium and I'm feeling a little on the stupid side. I've had freshwater before and I would just rinse the substate out until the water ran clean before putting it in.

This crushed coral is befuddling me. Will it ever wash completely clean? It's driving me nuts!! It sat in the tank for 3 days and the tank was still so cloudy I couldn't see my hand dipped in......

What to do??

Thanks!

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

from reading on this site, cc isnt the best choice, better to go with live sand. better to change it now then when the tank is up and running. am i understanding this right, its coming from fw, if so i dont think that is wise either. if you are sure about this decision, then maybe it will clear up in a few days.

 

[ferretmath]

Why is it not wise to convert to SW from FW?

 

[seaham358]

Sand is the preferred substraight now. CC traps waste which breaks down over time causing high nitrates. You also need to vac it when doing water changes.
IMO I would take the CC out while the tank is new and look into live sand or a safe place sand. Live rock is also a great idea for a natural filtration.
Read, read and read some more, salt is a lot different then fresh. I started with fresh and knew nothing about salt and only by reading alot and asking questions did I learn things. Most LFS don't know much if anything about salt..

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

it is my understanding that some of the problems you are having might be b/c its from fw. there is different bacteria involved and there could be unknown contaminents involved. i could be wrong, but i would not chance it with sw. theres so much more at risk, like money, water perameters, and the lives of the fish and inverts involved.

 

[ColdFish]

I don't think the original post meant that the substrate was being re-used from a FW system (if I understood it correctly), just that he is new to SW. Crushed coral isn't the best choice as has been mentioned already, but I'm still using it in one of my tanks. Not a problem yet, but I am planning on getting rid of it eventually.

To answer the question, that stuff is almost impossible to rinse out to the point that the rinse water will come back clear. Just give it a real good rinse and go ahead and put it in the tank. The water will eventually clear. If using a canister filter just clean it out every day until the water is clear. Don't bother running carbon or anything other than foam until the water clears up. It will eventually settle down after a couple days, but will easily cloud the tank up again when you do routine maintenance for a while. A sandsifter star will also help with keeping the trash out of it, but that's down the road after you get the tank established..

 

[ferretmath]

I don't think the original post meant that the substrate was being re-used from a FW system (if I understood it correctly), just that he is new to SW. Crushed coral isn't the best choice as has been mentioned already, but I'm still using it in one of my tanks. Not a problem yet, but I am planning on getting rid of it eventually.

To answer the question, that stuff is almost impossible to rinse out to the point that the rinse water will come back clear. Just give it a real good rinse and go ahead and put it in the tank. The water will eventually clear. If using a canister filter just clean it out every day until the water is clear. Don't bother running carbon or anything other than foam until the water clears up. It will eventually settle down after a couple days, but will easily cloud the tank up again when you do routine maintenance for a while. A sandsifter star will also help with keeping the trash out of it, but that's down the road after you get the tank established..

Thank you for answering my question. No, the coral was not used in a FW tank - its brand new. It is starting to settle down now and I'm feeling better about it. I'm not going to have a reef tank - just a fish only tank. I'm use to gravel vacuuming every couple of weeks (FW tank), so I will keep the coral and vacuum it when needed.

Now on to fishless cycling! Then, when the levels are right I'm going to add a clown or two, some rock and call it a day.

Thanks again!

 

[ColdFish]

Sounds like a plan. Crushed coral isn't great, but it's not as horrible as some think it is as long as it's maintained. On the plus side it seems to keep my pH spot-on

Just a suggestion, but if you're planning on adding some live rock you could do it now and cycle with that. Will work fine and save you the step of curing it later.

Good luck with the new tank.