Using Crushed Coral
- Thread starter Nanna
- Start date
mng777777
Shark Wrangler Wannabe
thanks for the heads up :-)
little_fish
Moderator
Well depending on how its arranged, but if the crushed coral and sand are on top of each other, what is going to happen is the sand is just going to work its way down and all the crushed coral pieces will be on top. But i would still remove most of the crushed coral if you can because either way, its going to end up trapping little bits of junk, which will decay and release nitrates back into the water column, giving you water quality issues.
And even with half and half i dont know if you could keep sand shifter because i cant really see them staying to half the tank. Plus they are probably just going to mix them up creating the scenario i described above.
And even with half and half i dont know if you could keep sand shifter because i cant really see them staying to half the tank. Plus they are probably just going to mix them up creating the scenario i described above.
Thank you so much little_fish. That's what I was afraid of. At least my tank is still cycling so it shouldn't cause to much damage removing the crushed coral Glad I happened to read the post where this was mentioned. It's the first time I've heard of it!
One thing I have definitly learned from this site....never buy anything else prior to researching it first on this website and don't rely on the LFS for correct information when it comes to a sale for them.:frustrat:
One thing I have definitly learned from this site....never buy anything else prior to researching it first on this website and don't rely on the LFS for correct information when it comes to a sale for them.:frustrat:
little_fish
Moderator
Ya, you can just scoop it out. Dont worry about getting every little piece, a few pieces wont hurt a thing.
Ya, its such a bummer about the lfs. But its good that you do have a place to turn to get the correct information! It would really suck to have to figure it out all on your own.
Ya, its such a bummer about the lfs. But its good that you do have a place to turn to get the correct information! It would really suck to have to figure it out all on your own.
mng777777
Shark Wrangler Wannabe
I 2nd that. You don't need to worry about getting all of it out, or even most of it out. A thin cover across the top will be just fine. It's when you get several inches of it stacked up that you begin to run into to trouble. If you have it 1/2 & 1/2, left to right, and you want to maintain that look, then scoop it out, replace it with sand then pour 1/4" to 1/2" back over the top of the half you wanted. If you have 1/2 & 1/2 top and bottom, assuming the CC is on top, you can remove most of it, replace it with sand if you like and then pour 1/4" to 1/2" back over the top to get the look you are going for.
As an aside, in my tank I have about 150lbs of sand surrounding about 40lbs of gravel extending from the center of the back of my tank. The gravel serves as breeding ground for pods, stars, worms and more. It does trap detritus but the critters moving through it seem to keep it under control as my levels are stable and spot on. CC is tough because it is too fine to allow critters to move through it but not fine enough to allow sifters to effectively stir it which over time leads to a nitrate factory. If you were using CC to create texture or a different look in your tank, you may consider using a small amount of aquarium gravel in the same way that I do. It will work much better than CC does. Just make sure you don't get gravel that has any heavy metals in it or that is painted and may flake off over time. You will want to make sure to use aquarium gravel.
As an aside, in my tank I have about 150lbs of sand surrounding about 40lbs of gravel extending from the center of the back of my tank. The gravel serves as breeding ground for pods, stars, worms and more. It does trap detritus but the critters moving through it seem to keep it under control as my levels are stable and spot on. CC is tough because it is too fine to allow critters to move through it but not fine enough to allow sifters to effectively stir it which over time leads to a nitrate factory. If you were using CC to create texture or a different look in your tank, you may consider using a small amount of aquarium gravel in the same way that I do. It will work much better than CC does. Just make sure you don't get gravel that has any heavy metals in it or that is painted and may flake off over time. You will want to make sure to use aquarium gravel.
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