Crushed coral REALLY that bad?

[mxmarks]

You guys have been helping me since before I started, and yesterday I added my first fish! Progress!

But I think waaay back when I aquired my tank, before I saught the advice of you all here, I made a huge mistake. I mixed the water and salt in the tank and stirred up the sand bed. And now, when I observe the bed from the side, it appears that I've almost flipped it. The top of the bed is what I assume to be 'crushed coral', that I've read about here. It's a pebbly, white substance, that moves like sand, but HAS scratched my glass (ugh, you live, you learn) when it gets caught in the magnet, and definatley isn't a fine substance.

Yet, when I get under the stand and look up, it looks like a fine grain sand.

So my question is - how bad is this? Can I add sand on TOP of this? The bed is maybe 4 inches deep in some spots, and 2 inches deep in areas that have high flow (Im still trying to tweak my powerhead placement).

The tank right now has one lawnmower blenny (my favorite!), and 2 small clowns. It has an emerald crab, 4 turbos (2 of which I can still find), 10 of the basic algae snails, and about 6 hermits. I've been slowly adding things ever since my cycle ended, ammonia dropped to 0, and all other elements in my tests fell in a range that was acceptable.

So is this something I need to worry about (especially since I'd like a goby, who I assume would be digging around in there).

Thanks for the help! I cant wait to get home tonight and post some tank pics! The journey to an awesome reef is finally underway!

[WinnipegDragon]

Larger particles will almost always work themselves to the top. If you put sand on top, it will just be a matter of time until the larger stuff replaces it.

[jamest0o0]

CC is not good IMO, it causes nitrate issues in the long run and would be best to remove it... I did the same thing, I bought CC not knowing it was bad and now it's in my tank, but lucky for me I'm going up to a 135g tank in a few months so I will jsut add a new substrate then

[Toddrtrex]

I had a CC sand bed for about 6 years. My nitrates were always at or near 0. Just have to do some extra work if you keep a CC sandbed. What worked best for me was with each weekly water change I also vacuumed the sand bed. Would also be shocked on the amount of detritus that collected.

[jamest0o0]

yeah, but it's just uneeded work

[reefworm]

Yes, it really is THAT BAD. I blame my crash of a few years back on that very thing for reasons that JamestOoO mentions. Plus the sharper edges and larger sizes will discourage the benthic life you want in the substrate to keep things as clean as possible under there.

[Michael]

yep i agree with toddrex, i vaccum mine, my nitrates are 0 it works for me

[chevo69]

Originally posted by mikeydj
yep i agree with toddrex, i vaccum mine, my nitrates are 0 it works for me

What about a sand bed, do you guys vaccum it or just leave it alone?

[jamest0o0]

from what I've heard your generally supposed to leave your sand bed alone

[Toddrtrex]

Originally posted by chevo69
What about a sand bed, do you guys vaccum it or just leave it alone?

A lot of people are going to disagree with me.....

I have a swallow sand bed in each of my tanks ( 1 to 2 inches ) and I vacuum them with each water change. Been doing it this way for years. ( 15+ ) With the last round of water tests, 'trates were at 0. Think my tanks look pretty darn good, so I see no reason for me not to do it. (( can click on the "red house" to see pictures of my tanks ))

However, if you have a deep sand bed, you should NOT vacuum it.

[Michael]

well i have not got a sand bed so i cant answer that, i can only say most reefers with adeep bed say not to clean it, high water flow is the answer, in my case chevo i have one inch max of coral sand and i only use it for a natural look in my tank, all my rock is on bare glass and i do not use the coral as a filter, thats why i clean it, if live sand was used i would not clean it

[jimwat]

If the grain size is less than 2.0 mm I would not be concerned.

If you are NOT trying to keep a DSB, I would consider taking some sand out (the more sand...the more detritus it will hold). I have an inch of sand (grain size 1.0 to 2.0 mm), which looks nice, and will allow you to keep a gobie. I've had a diamond gobie and a sand sifting star for over a year.

[rbursek]

I do not want to get in a depbate, and I agree sand traps less sh&^, but from what I have read a CC bed acts as a better chemical buffer as it slowly dissolves, but I am still learning, and wished I knew as much from this site when I started my tank!

[Toddrtrex]

Originally posted by rbursek
I do not want to get in a depbate, and I agree sand traps less sh&^, but from what I have read a CC bed acts as a better chemical buffer as it slowly dissolves, but I am still learning, and wished I knew as much from this site when I started my tank!

I could be wrong, but I don't believe that CC will dissolve at the pH that we keep are tanks at. Believe it needs to be around 6 to dissolve.

I know that when I had my CC sand bed, that I didn't notice any real difference in the depth over the course of 6 years that I had it. (( taking into account the amount removed when I vacuumed it. ))

[jimwat]

Originally posted by rbursek
I do not want to get in a depbate, and I agree sand traps less sh&^, but from what I have read a CC bed acts as a better chemical buffer as it slowly dissolves, but I am still learning, and wished I knew as much from this site when I started my tank!

Actually, this is straight out of the brouchure.

Geo-Marine: Florida Crushed Coral It’s the only crushed coral with aragonite, which provides up to 25 times the buffering power of other crushed corals, dolomite or oyster shell. Eliminate chronic pH problems and provide maximum surface area for water purifying bacteria. CaribSea’s Florida Crushed Coral with aragonite allows an increase in bioload by up to 50% and it never needs replacement! Approx 2-5mm diameter (1/8 - 1/4�).

Whether this is true or not is another discussion.