Crushed Coral

[lad2knowu]

Wow...after viewing these saltwater pic's, I am beginning to wonder if I am the only one who uses a Crushed Coral sub. If I decided to change my sub what would you recommend or should I even consider changing? If so what are the pros and cons? I am sure this has been asked many times but i appreciate any input. Thanks

 

[indy]

The large size and odd shape of CC allows uneaten food and other waste to settle into it and out the water column. It also prevents most types of good detritus eaters from getting to it easily. The detritus will then rot in the tank and give you bad water. If you want to keep the CC you'll need to vacuum it pretty often to keep this in check. If you decide to change it out go with arogonite sand (southdown brand) or playsand (any as long as its "playsand") if you can't get arogonite. Going with a sandbed will keep large pieces of detritus from settling, will be a great filter by itself, and allow all the good little critters move around and live happily. I can't think of any real cons.

For some reason CC is what's recomended to people new to the hobby by the "experienced" staff of their lfs, along with the very expensive wet/dry or canister filters. Its also one of the first changes lots of folks do to their tanks. Some folks continue to use CC for years and are happy with it, but it will be more maintenance.

 

[Atari]

Just to add, any deep substrate can suffer from the problems indy mentioned, so it's crucial if you go with a DSB to have plenty of sand sifting critters.

 

[fishman]

I have CC as well and do water changes about once a month and never have trite or trate problems....and for sure dont have ammonia problems. But yes it is a little more work. I have a crab cleanup crew as well as snails and 1 sand sifter that burrows all the time. And yes I will have to admit I wish I would have gone with sand!!

 

[ClamKnuckle]

I have a 55 with CC and a 90 with a DSB.
Besides the filtration benifits of a DSB, it just looks about 100000 times better