crushed coral

[lilposeidon]

i have added crushed coral as the base in my aquarium i put it in with my fish in there and the water is very merky are my fish gonna be ok ?

[KYLE.801]

Yes they should be ok just make sure to check your parameters because adding substrate can cause them to change least it did when I added sand to my tank.  Nothing got out of control, but you want to keep an eye on it.  What type of filter system do you have on your tank? 

[Bergy]

depending on your system, and the circulation you have, the 'mirkyness' should settle out in less then a day.

but like kyle suggested, you should do some water tests, (ammonia, nitrate) to see how things are going and if you should do something different


gl

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

As a person stuck that was stuck in FW. I rinsed mine for a long time and was puzzled how it would not clear. :P

[cruzincaril]

i even had to rinse the sand many times and it was the very fine type..

[lilposeidon]

NO2 - 0 , Ammonia - 0 , pH - 7.8 , NO3 - 0
since i put the CC in my aquarium the mirkyness is clearing up slowly

[Bergy]

yea, good stats so far... do daily tests on the ammonia for a few days to make sure


the pH is a bit low... try testing the pH 12 hours after that test... to get a comparison of highs and lows

[Just_Greg]

rinsing substrate can be quick, or it can be what seems like an interminable undertaking, depending on how dusty the stuff is.  also, how you add it to your tank can make a huge difference in the amount of turbidity you get.

i personally don't care for CC, as it traps detritus and requires constant vacuuming or you'll end up with elevated nitrates, but plenty of folks use it. 

i find that for most of my setups, #3 aragonite (~ 2mm grain size) is great stuff.  it "lays down" better than sugar fine or oolitic sand, but doesn't trap detritus like CC.  it's also fine enuff that my burrowing fish have no trouble with it.

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

As most of us freshwater immigrants, I bought crushed coral because I didin't want to suck half my sand out when vacuuming.

[Bergy]

more then half the world of reef keepers use crushed coral..

All of europe, and most everywhere other then the good old northern america actually


crushed coral is by far cheaper and more popular... why, and is it better / worse... dont ask me.. i can only tell you i have had superior success with live sand and bare bottom as those are the only two i have done...

[lilposeidon]

yea i guess it all boils down to personal preference it seems and i dont think i'll ever use it again i find it looks like a bunch of crushed up bones on the bottom of my tank besides the odd shell here and there.
i'm wondering how a cleaner shrimp will take to it and how long should a tank be running before a cleaner shrimp is added as the housekeeper so to speak ?

[psykokid]

Id let things get nice and stable before adding some inverts like shrimp. They tend to be a lil more delicate in my experience than crabs and such.

[RandyFolds]

i'm wondering how a cleaner shrimp will take to it and how long should a tank be running before a cleaner shrimp is added as the housekeeper so to speak ?

Cleaner shrimp clean fish, not tanks...

I am a fan of the look of crushed coral, but it does suck for maintenance.

[KYLE.801]

Ive only had crushed coral seems good to me but I've never had anything else so.....

[Just_Greg]

i ran CC back in the old daze before i knew better, and before there were so many choices.  i know lots of peeps like BB, but it just doesn't "do it" for me (i DID really like Bill's zoa-bottomed 180 tho).  i know most of you newer folks haven't really had the chance to try different things to see what works best for you, altho some of us have set up and maintained many systems which has given us the chance to experiment.

as for vacuuming, you really shouldn't vacuum anything but BB or CC, other than to just suck detritus off the surface of the substrate.  if you're having trouble with control and are using one of those "gravel vacs" that has the big tube on the end, you might want to consider losing the big tube and get a piece of rigid tubing that will fit onto the hose.  you'll have MUCH better control of your vacuuming.