Sand or crushed coral?

[Scuba20v]

There are ups and downs about both however I could use some advice on which substrait to pick for my 75g reef
Thanks
Ian


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[reefman]

sand-like this
CaribSea Aragamax Oolitic







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[lazibonez]

I d definitely use sand, one major flaw of using crushed coral is that it traps detritus.

 

[anthony27]

sand 100%

 

[bizarrecorals]

is really your preference, you do have to clean more with the crush coral.

 

[Scuba20v]

Doesn't sand trap a lot of bad stuff aswell? I rather gravle clean every water change instead of sturr sand


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[sakura51707]

Crushed coral when used as a substrate becomes a large nitrate factory and can cause long term problems (i.e. trapping all the detritus, food, feces, etc.). Your infaunal critters (snails, fish, inverts, etc.) have a very difficult time moving through it and can't get to the waste material to eat it. And lastly, it also won't compact enough to form an anaerobic area to allow denitrification and the ultimate removal of waste as atmospheric nitrogen. I would recommend sand or going bare bottom although personally I do not like the look of a bb tank.

P.S. I don't think you are suppose to stir the sand bed. Many believe that it needs to be left alone in order for bacteria to develop and thrive. Just a passing thought

 

[bizarrecorals]

+Sakura
Never stir any subtrate, if you like crushed corals, just siphon frequent and you won't have any problems, people here claims that crush corals loses its effient after awhile, but sand has no value what so ever other than it holds bacteria, anything in your tank holds bacteria, when you have a 3 inch sand bed, only the top surface holds bacteria, the bottem of the sand can develop problems too., like I said before, is your preference, proper maintance does the trick.

your options:
sand, crushcorals, barebottem, choose what you like!

 

[basiab]

I had course sand in a 10 gallon and it worked for me. Now I have a 24 gallon aquapod and started with very fine sand and it was a disaster blowing all over the place. I replaced it with crushed coral and it has been there over 6 months and it is working fine. It has stayed clean even though I do not have any crew for detritus or leftover food. Maybe this coral is crushed finer than others but so far no nitrate problems and I am overstocked on fish.

 

[jrobbins]

but sand has no value what so ever other than it holds bacteria

this isn't really true at all...

 

[bizarrecorals]

this isn't really true at all...

than can you please explain what beneficial factors are there, I want to know too.

 

[thesauce]

I've kept my tank with crushed coral for several years. The nitrate, phosphate and waste build up can be overcome by picking a spot in the tank and agitating the substrate during each water change. I do the stirring with the tip of the siphon hose and suck up whatever is kicked up.

 

[jrobbins]

than can you please explain what beneficial factors are there, I want to know too.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marsubstr.htm


RIF