Fine Sand and Crushed Coral

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I know this has been covered, but whats the fresh thought on fine sand v. crushed coral?

I have a sugar fine sand bed that is about 1 inch deep on average.

I have read that a coarser substrate will provide a better environment for pods to live in. I also think that my turbo snails will have a better chance of righting themselves on a coarser substrate (I have to flip them when they fall in the sugar fine sand because they can't get a grip on it to flip back over).

I was thinking of adding a layer of CC to my fine sand, or maybe allowing some of the fine sand to show, like a dune that formed in one part of the tank and covering the rest with CC.


Is it a bad idea to mix CC with fine sand?

 

[ricky1414]

it was my impression that if you mix the two, the cc will eventually rise to the surface and cover the sand, as the sand will settle below the cc.
I hope I explained it correctly, as it made sense in my head. :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have read that too. Makes sense because the finer particles will tend to settle.

But since I want to cover fine sand with cc, it won't matter because the cc will already be on top

 

[Anonymous]

I believe the finer sand will help provide dentrification in shallower beds.

 

[Anonymous]

I believe the finer sand will help provide detrification in shallower beds.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is detrification?

If you mean denitrification, the fine sand will still be below the cc, which should provide denitrification just fine, as it does now with tons of bubbles visible against the glass. But cc does that too on its own in a deep bed. My LFS has only cc in about a four or five inch bed and you can see the denitrification going on withing the large chunks of coral and shells.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks.....I fixed it.....you are so fussy. :lol: