Sand or crushed coral?

[Sneaker]

I ordered my new 90 gallon tank today and when it gets made and I set it up I am wondering is I should use sand or crushed coral.

My current tank has crushed coral and I remember the guy at my LFS saying it was better because bacteria and micro organisms can attach to the substrate better.

Pros and cons which do you think is better?

 

[G-Man]

I would definitly go with live sand...CC is just a nitrate factory. live sand also adds biological filtration to your tank as well as live rock so the sand is much better for the long run.

 

[Sneaker]

Thanks for the advice and welcome to the boards, I am leaning towards the live sand myself for the new reef tank.

After reading that other thread about the play sand I think I will go that route and top off the sand bed with LS from the LFS.

 

[Guest]

Sand!

 

[HoopsGuru]

My current tank has crushed coral and I remember the guy at my LFS saying it was better because bacteria and micro organisms can attach to the substrate better.

HAHAHA, now that is some smooth LFS bunk! IMO, it all depends on how much time you want to spend in the tank. CC will require maintenance in vacuuming it regularly to remove waste, but in turn you will also be removing a lot of detritus from the system that sits to be processed with sand. Sand may look more natural though as an obvious benefit. Pros and cons on both ends, but sand is probably favored more these days except for fish only tanks.

 

[Sparky]

I use CC in my 125 gal tank. I vacuum the substrate when I do my water changes. I only do about 1/3 of the tank when I vacuum. I just do the next section the next time. As for nitates, I consistantly monitor my tank every 3 days and my nitrate level is undetectable. I thought at first it was my testing kit, so I purchased 2 more (different) test kits to check it against. They all 3 came up the same.

I also thought about LS, and taking out the CC, but in the end I stayed with the CC. I do plan on in the near future to replace "some" of the CC with LS on a section of the tank, but not all.

I just can't find any of the SouthDown Playsand by me. I live south of Chicago about 20 miles, and very close to the Indiana border. If anyone knows of a place selling it in my area please PM me.

Mike

 

[Sneaker]

I use CC in my 125 gal tank. I vacuum the substrate when I do my water changes. I only do about 1/3 of the tank when I vacuum. I just do the next section the next time. As for nitates, I consistantly monitor my tank every 3 days and my nitrate level is undetectable. I thought at first it was my testing kit, so I purchased 2 more (different) test kits to check it against. They all 3 came up the same.

I also thought about LS, and taking out the CC, but in the end I stayed with the CC. I do plan on in the near future to replace "some" of the CC with LS on a section of the tank, but not all.

I just can't find any of the SouthDown Playsand by me. I live south of Chicago about 20 miles, and very close to the Indiana border. If anyone knows of a place selling it in my area please PM me.

Mike

I am going to check one of the HD's here in Chicago, I will let you know.