Crushed coral as substrate?

[AR15 guy]

First off I am sure this has been discussed numerous times BUT I searched it and came up with thousands of unrelated topics. Scanned through the first 10 pages looking for something as came up short.

I know live sand is better BUT is crushed coral that bad as a substrate? I put it in my 38 gallon since that is how I had it set up years ago. I just have it filled up. I started posting here after doing this. Seems like everyone here hates crushed coral.

I know it loses its buffering ability after a while but other than that why is it so bad?

I have live sand in my 10 gallon but couldn't afford to spend 60$ on live sand for the 38 at the time.

Also I rinsed the CC pretty well. But it still looks very mucky and nasty if the substrate is touched. Will this eventually filter out?

 

[zacdl]

There is a guy on ebay that sells 25 pounds for $39 shipped.

I just bought some Arginiate (however you spell it) type of sand. 30 pounds for $20 shipped. Its not live, but I would rather pay $20 for non-live than $40 for live. It will become live one day. 30 pounds will also give me a little more depth too.

Crushed coral I didnt get because I think it would stay dirtier, and also because its not as natural (I think the fish will like the sand better)

For the non-live stuff I bought it at www.drsfostersmith.com and for the live stuff: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=4365358948&rd=1

 

[lando]

CC is not a bad substrate and it is certainly not a death sentense for a tank. It does require frequent vacuuming to remove detritus so NO3 levels will not climb. In that respect, LS is a much better substrate. A lot less work. You can get aragonite based playsand at Home Depot for very cheap. That will work just fine. Seed it with some LS from a established tank and you will be in business. Creating a LS bed is not exspensive, it just takes some time. You do not need those prepackaged "LS" bags from the LFS. They are a rip off.

 

[AR15 guy]

Yeah I made the mistake of buying some of the arginate or whatever from a local place for my 10 gallon. I got it for 15$ so it could have been worse. After posting this I saw were people were buying it at HD. I checked there earlier and they didn't have the kind I was looking for. So I am going to Lowe's in a sec to check there. I would prefer sand. I just thought I had to have live and didn't know I could find cheap playsand that was safe. If I would have known that I would not have got the crushed coral and put it in there. I may go ahead and get a bag of sand if I can find it. Then aboyt 3 dozen blue leg hermits to keep it clean.

Thanks for the replys. Glad to know that the CC isn't BAD. Just harder to keep up. I'm sure an established CC bed would have a decent amount of bacteria also.

Well I am going to go check on the sand. Thanks again.

 

[X the Outsider]

I was going to change my CC into Aragalive. I decided to get 20 more pounds of LR, and add a bigger filter to take of any nitrates. And you can get snails to help keep that stuff clean. I'm going to get more nassariuss snails to keep my CC cleaner. But it's still a great idea to vacuum that stuff very well.

 

[Acraman]

It boils down to- What ever works for you. I've been using CC for years with no problems.

 

[electrikat]

I also use cc in both tanks, however I have recently added a small amount of sand to the top of it to make it look smoother.

 

[XXFirefighter]

I also use cc in both tanks, however I have recently added a small amount of sand to the top of it to make it look smoother.

Watch that...
If food and "Stuff" gets into the CC, your gonna go NUTZ trying to get your levels back down...

CC is just more of a pain then it really is !
Cheaper in the long run to get sand. no vacuming just water changes.

 

[electrikat]

If I ever have to take it apart or if I ever have a nitrate sponge I will probably replace it. But, right now it's just settling into being beautiful and I would hate to thing of everything that might not make it through the move.

 

[electrikat]

I meant " problem" not "sponge".

 

[AR15 guy]

I wish I could find that tropical playsand. I found a few types of sand at my local HD and Lowe's but I don't think I'd trust them. Lowe's carries a quickcrete brand play sand. It looks about right but I don't think I'd trust it. Hard to tell whats in it if its made for concrete work.

I figure they may get some more brands in when it starts to warm up. HD and Lowe's both only had one brand each.