Crushed Coral

[footbagger311]

So I bought this 125 gallon tank from some guy on craigslist and he gave me a 5 gallon bucket with crushed coral in it. I heard that this type of substrate is not suitable for reefs, is that correct?

What i was planning on doing if it is not bad for it, would be to put the crushed coral in the middle of the tank where I would have an open area and some other types of sand on the sides where the live rock would be.

Also, is the eggcrate necessary for the bottom of the tank?

 

[kielty]

Crushed coral is fine...rinse it and use it. Mix it with other substrate if you wish...I would use it.
No to the eggcrate...I hear people on here worried about point loading their glass....If it can hold 1000 lbs of water it can hold
any amount of rock.

 

[tony45power]

i wouldnt use the crushed coral, i my self and manyothers who do have it will tell you the same for reef tanks. fish only it will be fine. it holds crap in it and keeps you phosfates up!

 

[reefer0032]

I've mixed it up with sand and haven't had a problem.

 

[MikeCentore]

I agree with tony. Crushed coral is too sharp so fish (such as wrasses) can't burrow in it. Also it won't support life like finer sand will.

 

[vanmo92]

I used cc on my first tank. I really was not fond of the looks of it. I am not sure how you like the looks of it but that can be a determining factor. I do not think it is as good for a reef to use that as it is to sand. I definitely recommend sand, but you could probably use the cc with no problems. You dont need eggcrate on the bottom.

 

[Patrick12]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12464604#post12464604 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tony45power
i wouldnt use the crushed coral, i my self and manyothers who do have it will tell you the same for reef tanks. fish only it will be fine. it holds crap in it and keeps you phosfates up!

I certainly hope you meant NITRATES and not PHOSPHATES. If you really think that any substrate made for marine aquaria will actually keep phosphates up, then you really need to read more textbooks before you lend your advice. That is a totally bogus response and fuels misconceptions that will live on....especially in forums. When the substrate was formed thousands of years ago or more, the phosphates in the ocean were not high. The coral would have had to deposit phosphates in its skeleton to be able to leach them back into the aquarium and that just simply is not the case. Please don't take my statement as harsh because it was not meant that way. I just really hate it when folks make statements that are that far off base. None of the substrates from the ocean will contribute to phosphates. Nitrates are another issue.

If you practice even modest husbandry, the crushed coral will be fine. If you are the set it and forget it type, then any substrate will trap detritus and create problems.

 

[footbagger311]

would i be better off if i just used the crushed coral as a bottom layer and then put the sand on top of it?

 

[sean48183]

Are you going to keep fish? Fish make a mess of fine sand sending everywhere including on corals. I had to constantly blow everything off with a turkey blaster. I use a 1-2" layer of CC with a big hermit that cleans it up plus a lunar wrasse that sleeps in it. Wrasses can sleep in CC just fine. If your just doing corals fine sand is ok.

 

[tkeracer619]

I would use dry aragonite reef sand and ditch the crushed coral. Let a clean up crew (snails, crabs, and a starfish when its ready) take care of the sand. I would hate to have to maintain my substrate.

 

[footbagger311]

i am planning on a reef tank.

what i am going to do is taking the sand out of my other fish tanks and putting it in the new one with the crushed coral on the bottom. How does that sound?

 

[footbagger311]

I also have some fish in my FOWLR tank and I would like to keep them but I know that most of them are not reef safe. Which ones do you think I would be able to keep:

Coral Beauty
Hardwick Wrasse
Koran
Picasso Trigger
Dogface Puffer
Neon Velvet Damsel
Snowflake Eel

 

[footbagger311]

and a Blue Spotted Puffer.

 

[bill-fit]

In my first tank the wrasse had his choice of cc or fine sand he prefered the cc. Halichores melarnus.

One theory I have is maybe its easer for them to breath in the crushed coral.

 

[footbagger311]

anyone have any of these fish in their reefs with no problems?