Will this work?

[cms722]

I have a friend who had some bags of "live sand" sitting around. Its vacuum sealed and everything, even has water and what not in it. But its not just sand. It has pieces of shells and whatnot in it too. Its Nature's Ocean brand. It says the sand is aragonite though and "supposedly" its straight from the ocean. LOL. I have no idea who she got it from though and I know that it probably isn't any more live than the next bag of sand. Is this ok for substrate in a reef tank? Because I've heard alot about not using crushed coral and using just sand, but I don't think this is the same thing as crushed coral. Doesn't say it has any in it. Thanks guys.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's fine to use. It doesn't sound like crushed coral.

 

[cms722]

That's fine to use. It doesn't sound like crushed coral.

What exactly is so bad about crushed coral? Lol I always hear it shouldn't be used but I never really knew why.

 

[little_fish]

It traps poop, uneaten food, and other detrius, allowing it to rot and release nitrates, phosphates etc back into the water, lessing your water quality. Also for animals that shift the sand, it can be very damaging to them.

 

[cms722]

It traps poop, uneaten food, and other detrius, allowing it to rot and release nitrates, phosphates etc back into the water, lessing your water quality. Also for animals that shift the sand, it can be very damaging to them.

But the kind of sand I asked about won't do the same thing? With all the shells and pieces of shells? I guess I just don't see the difference lol

 

[little_fish]

It should be fine.

This is what crushed coral looks like:

See how all those big pieces would easily be able to trap stuff. If you have more smaller particles (like sand) it fills up the spaces.

 

[Bifferwine]

A lot of sand has bigger pieces mixed in with it. That's okay. It's better than having all big pieces.

 

[cms722]

I guess I can see how that would be a problem. Is that why some people mix the crushed coral with sand? So that in a way it kind of eliminates the problem of just using all crushed coral? Sorry for so many questions, I'm just trying to understand everything in this hobby lol.

 

[little_fish]

The problem with that is the smaller particles will eventually all end up the bottom with the bigger pieces on top, so you end up with a layer of sand and a layer of crushed coral. If you have a few bigger pieces its not a big deal, its when you have a whole layer of larger pieces