Florida Crushed Coral vs. Live Sand

[LordErrorprone]

I currently have Florida Crushed Coral in my 20 gal Saltwater, but I was wondering if it would be better to have actual Live Sand instead?

 

[Krypt]

Crushed Coral has a tendency to trap uneaten food and detritus that will cause a nitrate level problem. The sand isn't as able to trap things and if you get some nassarius snails, they will cleanse the sand bed of the junk and keep it clean.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Ditto to what Krypt said. You can buy just regular aragonite sand and it will become live over time....especially if you have live rock in your tank. I wouldn't waste money on live sand.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Nice guys. I 100% agree.

 

[cmor1701d]

But, if you decide to replace the CC with sand, don't replace more than a third at at time and do it about a month apart. Most of your benficial bacteris live on the CC. You don't want to remove it all at once.

You may also want to cure the sand before adding it to the tank.
First rinse the sand in a bucket to the get powdery stuff out. Then add some of the CC from the tank to the sand bucket with a small heater ( 5gallon bucket filled only about ½ - 3/4 wiith sand). Stir the sand to turn it over every or every other day. You want to start building up beneficial bacteria on the sand.

This works much better in a tub than a bucket as sand deeper than 2" to 3" won't get enought oxygen for the bacteria to thrive. Coating the sand with bacteria makes the sand heavier so you won't get the sand storms of just adding sand to an established tank.

When adding it to the tank fill a gallon baggie with sand. Remove the CC from an area and section off that area to the depth you want the sand bed to be. Lower the baggie to the bottom and slowly pour out the contents or cut a corner of the baggie to make a nice built in funnel to spread the sand in the designated area.

That sounds a lot harder than it actually it. Like everything else, go slow and you should be quite successful.

 

[LordErrorprone]

Thanks. I will eventualy replace the CC.

 

[LordErrorprone]

How many pounds should I get for a 20 gal?

 

[LordErrorprone]

So what if i got some live sand and put in a bucket then threw some food, so I could cycle the sand while its in the bucket?

 

[Mitchell0605]

Yes but as others have said it's a waste of money to buy live sand as normal dry sand becomes live soon enough. Especially if your changing over your substrate.

 

[thincat]

So what if i got some live sand and put in a bucket then threw some food, so I could cycle the sand while its in the bucket?

If it's truely live sand then it should be cycled already.Why would you have to recycle it...

 

[melosu58]

Another good way to do it is siphon up about a 1/4 of it and get a PVC pipe and slide the already rinsed out sand to the bottom where you want it. Either the baggie way or the pipe way will be less cloudiness.

 

[austinsdad]

But there's no such thing as live sand, right? Sand in a bag of water on the shelf for weeks or months???? I don't think so.

 

[thincat]

But there's no such thing as live sand, right? Sand in a bag of water on the shelf for weeks or months???? I don't think so.

It's a rare bacteria that can hold it's breath for a long time. lol

 

[Mitchell0605]

That's why the sand is so expensive.