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RE: Crushed Coral...big mistake?

w3tw0rx — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:20:09 GMT

I stick with the .5-1.5mm arag from Nature's Ocean/Carib Sea. The Sugar Arag (oolitic) is too fine... packs too dense to breathe much at all, creates anaerobic areas in much shallower amounts (which is actually a bad thing because then they get 'tilled' easier by critters), and is very hard to clean because it has the same density as the sediment it mixes with. The coarser stuff is just jagged and yes... can trap alot of crap. Crushed coral, FWIW, can also leach out nitrates into the water.

RE: Crushed Coral...big mistake?

dhnguyen — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:33:21 GMT

IMO and IME crushed coral substrate should not be used at all. The grains are too large and will create a detritus trap causing a nutrient problem for the tank. Trust me on that

If you are employing a DSB, then the best thing to do is use sugar sized sand of at least 2 inches or deeper. On the cheap route, you can use playsand (from your favourite hardware stores) for most of it and only the top layer with seeded live aragonite sand.

RE: Crushed Coral...big mistake?

argi — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:31:16 GMT

It sounds like it is very similar to CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade reef sand. I think you should be fine.

RE: Crushed Coral...big mistake?

Bill H — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:22:28 GMT

Thanks for the reply Argi,

Premium Atlantic Crushed Coral Sand with Aragonite #0
1.2-1.7mm.. I bought it at the LFS. Before thought that in general CC was cornflake size or larger. I guess thats why Im/was quite confused, but maybe relieved. I thought there might be some other property that makes it unsuitable for(packs too tightly for display or RDSB or both, etc). I am I in the clear?

RE: Crushed Coral...big mistake?

argi — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:15:39 GMT

Hi Bill,

Welcome to the Marine Depot Forums.

How large would you say the grain size is of the substrate you are using? Generally DSB's will require a fine sand and crushed coral will be too coarse to work properly (pore sizes between the grains is too large).

Crushed Coral...big mistake?

Bill H — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:05:39 GMT

Hello all,

I just recently decided to get my back into motion after a power outage 6 months ago that was a tank killer. The only things that survived were a couple damsels and a few soft corals. Its a 60g 36x18x 22 deep, overflow into RDSB<--(just added), then sump with skimmer and tricklefilter with about 150 pounds of LR. Overall age of tank is 2 years. New lighting (due to arrive from MD tomorrow) will be the T5 Nova Extreme. I use RO water.

My problem is I bought about 80 pounds of Nature's Ocean,Atlantic Crushed Coral that I placed in both the RDSB and in the display to a depth of about 2 1/2 inches. Then I read how bad a choice it is from alot of folks. I can certainly take it out if need be...just wanted to know if it would work for rsdb or display or neither? My long term goals for the tank is mainly for corals, With a few small fish(lawnmower blenny, wrass, gobie, etc) no more than 3 or 4, but I would like a stable enviroment for 3 or 4 shrimp(cleaners or pepermint) Is worth a try or a complete do over?

Thanks in advance

Bill

Also I plan to do away with the bio-balls once things are settled and the RDSB consists of a large Tidy Cat litter bucket (35LB?) 2/3rds full of crushed coral nastiness. Also the crushed coralappears from their website to be the finest grade