crushed coral or sand

[cadu20]

hi i was reading and something got me about crushed coral i had a 55 last week and just set up a larger 125 g, i have crusher coral but think about replece for sand, can i pick up sand from the sea ( florida ) and make as substrat ?

[Innovator]

Hmmm, much pollution amongst other things to worry about with sand right off the beach. You would be better off just purchasing dry aragonite, which shouldn't be that expensive compared to your other costs.

[lance]

Beach sand is bad. CC needs more care and tends to collect nitrate nad the SB is more natural and much better bio filter. Really depends on your setup though. FO BB good or reef tank SB best.

[cmor1701d]

Even if you pickup sand offshore (10 milles out) you're not sure what is in that sand (critters, parasites, etc.) You are much better off getting dry aragonite sand. You can check with a landscaper down there and see if they will sell you some dry carribean (aragonite) play sand, or get the bagged stuff at the lfs.