From Coral to Sand Great idea to do!

[blando]

^ This is my Nitrates before and after from going from crushed coral to Sand.
Left side was before with crushed coral
Right side is with sand.

When i took everything out and used dead sand because i did not want to start a cycle there was so much stuff at the bottom. I will not use crushed coral again it traps everything.

Plusss it looks nicer :)

Wanted to show this to newbies or maybe anyone thinkin on going to sand.

 

[blando]

i mean kinda hard to see in the picture a little but my nitrates were up and i was trying to think of everything for it did a sump and all didnt do mcuh until i put sand and now the color is yellow which is the test tube on the right. :)

 

[Bifferwine]

Nice job switching it out. Crushed coral seems to be a common cause of high nitrates, for the reason you stated -- the large particles trap detritus and crap between them, and cleaners are unable to maneuver through it to clean it up. Switching crushed coral for sand can make a difference in water quality right away.

 

[sprink669]

Thanks for the post!! I am about to start buying the laundry list of items for the tank and you just made up my mind. I was switching back and forth on the coral and sand bottom. I will get the sand. I have a small freshwater tank and last month I switched from gravel bottom to a sand and it made a huge difference in the clarity of the water.

 

[blando]

Yea I would recommend that to do sand..if its ur first time starting tank do live sand..I used dead because I didnt want it to cause a cycle. Then it will turn.into live sand.