crushed coral

[ScubaBaker]

i have a quick question about sand vs crushed coral for reef set-ups
which one is better for it. and the pros and cons?
i am thinking about changing my substraight out to crushed coral.
i have about 2 inches of sand in my tank now.
i was just at a national aquarium in baltimore, and all they had in there reef setup's were crushed coral.
thanks

 

[electrikat]

cc has a bad habit of building up detritus. I have cc and sand in both of mine and wish now that it were only sand.

 

[mjvincent]

Sand is easier to maintain.

 

[lando]

People have been using CC for years with success. It does require frequent and regualr maintanance and siphoning to remove detritus from the substrate. LS does not require this type of work. Personally, I like LS.

 

[pearsont74]

personally i dont like CC cause it doesnt look natural. If you have ever dived on a real reef...you wont see CC around the rocks. You will see sand. Plus I dont believe you can have any sand sifting critters with CC. I wont think CC will be good host to many helpful worms that you will have in a DSB.
I have a mix of sugar size and agronite and love it.

 

[ScubaBaker]

thank you for the great advise. i shure will take it.
thanks
michael

 

[Don424]

Scuba,

I noticed the same thing when I went to that Aquarium.......crushed coral in just about every tank. I wondered about that too.

 

[ScubaBaker]

makes you think lol! :?

 

[lando]

Most of the large aquariums around me use CC as a substrate as well. However, they also rely on several huge sand filters for biological filtration. The CC is for show, the sand is for filtering.