Muddy Crushed Coral?

[DesoShade]

Okay so today I decided to rinse some of my crushed coral I bought for the tank. Well... It's muddy. I keep rinsing and rinsing and rinsing, but the water won't come through clean. It's muddy and murky. What's the best way to rinse this stuff off?

Also, the crushed coral pieces look really small. I don't have to worry about getting it sucked into the filter do I?

 

[DesoShade]

Okay... more than small pieces .... teeny teeny tiny.

 

[reeffreak]

Is it crush coral or sand?
It shouldn't get sucked into a filter.Many people use sugar-size sand with no problems.Its okay to rinse crush coral in dechlorinated freshwater.Do the best you can...the water will get cloudy but will clear in a day or two.

I do like to warn you about crush coral.It tends to trap detris and doesn't have the buffering capacity of aragonite substrate.Consider aragonite sand if you haven't place the CC in yet.

 

[DesoShade]

It's crushed coral. I have some in a bucket and have been running it under the tub faucet for awhile and it's murky as can be. Hmm. you mentioned dechlorinated? Well I've been rinsing it straight from the faucet. Maybe I should ad some chlorine treatment to my tank when I start filling it.

 

[DesoShade]

oh, btw, what do you mean "detris" I haven't read anything about that. Sand, I don't really like sand. Looks kinda blah and seems messy.

 

[reeffreak]

Fish poop,uneaten food,waste(detris) tends to get trapped in crush coral,maybe your size of CC will be ok.Actually CC will be more messy in the long run.I wanted to give you a heads up because so many people start with CC and wish they went with sand instead.

I put some dechlorinator in the bucket with the water and CC just to make sure the chlorine is removed.

 

[DesoShade]

Really? Hmm. What sucks, is that it's already paid for and opened and i don't think the fish store HAD sand. All they had was gravel and cc.

 

[DesoShade]

Maybe I can combine some stuff? Maybe CC, Sand and gravel all together? Mix or layer it?

 

[reeffreak]

Combining a little crush coral with sand is fine,but just a little.Remember the sand will eventually settle to the bottom if you add to much CC.

If the LFS sells saltwater fish,surely they would sell aragonite sand too.(avoid the fake stuff-gravel).Even the local Petsmart/Petco sells aragonite sand.

 

[yote]

If you mix sand and CC,make sure its very little of the CC.
I made that mistake in my 30,Looked like total crap after about 2 months.
If you mix it,go at least 5 times more sand than the cc.

 

[DesoShade]

Hmm. Maybe I'll stick with the cc then. Unless the lfs has sand that doesn't cost too much.

 

[Bifferwine]

Crushed coral is an AWFUL substrate in my opinion. Using it can lead to big pH swings and high nitrate and phosphate levels. Your LFS will have aragonite sand. Not to mention it traps every piece of crap that floats around and ends up looking bad. Even Petco and Petsmart carry aragonite sand. I agree with Freak, that if you haven't already put the crushed coral in your tank, use sand instead.

And it's 'detritus', not 'detris' :).

 

[reeffreak]

And it's 'detritus', not 'detris' :).

FU Biff!
I had a brain cramp!:mrgreen:

 

[winyfrog]

sand is much better, although I at one time did the center of my tank with sand and the edges with CC and it looked good for a little while. the CC was good for my jaw fish to build a good home with.

 

[DesoShade]

Guess I wasted my money on that bag of cc then. :(

 

[DesoShade]

Hmm. Silly question here, but with sand, how do you vacuum? I mean like.... when you vacuum, does it suck up all the sand or make the water really cloudy? Sorry. silly question I know "how do you vacuum properly" but hey, what do you expect from a newb. lol Maybe I can return this cc. It's opened, but who knows.

 

[reeffreak]

You really don't vacuum sand.Most of us get get a variety of inverts to keep the sand cleaned and stirred.Their are copepods,mini brittlestars,bristleworms that hitchhike in the live rock,they also help clean the sand.

 

[joeman]

I don't vacuum sand either (for the exact reason you ask the question) - though some say you should (and in that case you have to carefully hover the vacuum above the sand so that it sucks up and detritus and not the sand). What is more important (in addition to the inverts) is good water flow that keeps particles in suspension so that they can be taken away by the overflow and then captured by filter and skimmer in the sump... all easier said than done of course, but that's the idea...

 

[hibye]

i didint know that. i thought that if you put a python on a hose and sypon the sand it picks up sand,water,and detrius thanks guys

 

[Bifferwine]

I don't vacuum my sand. A good cleaner crew will be varied enough to have some animals that take care of the sandbed for you.