Should i use coral sand

Gravel also comes with an added advantage of bearing beneficial bacteria that break down the waste generated from fish. There are colorful theme options too. Some people prefer the substrate color that complements their fish. Many people believe that the color of your aquarium substrate should mimic natural fish beds for the welfare of the fish.

This is not necessarily true. Even if you select a color based on your personal choices such as fire-engine red, bright pink, neon blue, or other striking ones, the fish will do fine as long as you keep track of the regular maintenance, maintain good water conditions, and offer nutritious fish food. The substrate acts as a medium for beneficial bacteria to breed, grow and colonize. While the substrate is not the only such medium, it is where most of the bacteria reside.

As mentioned earlier, these bacteria play a significant role in removing the detritus and maintaining a hygienic environment for your fish. Besides serving as a platform for beneficial bacteria, many types of substrates support the roots of live plants and draw nutrients. Some substrates provide key nutrients for use with live plants.

On the other hand, there are substrates that will not support live plants. Whether you plan to have live plants in your aquarium or not will determine the type of substrate you want.

The type of substrate you select will also be determined by the type of fish you wish to keep in your aquarium. After all, they are used as their habitat. But what if the aquarium you bought second-hand comes with a crushed coral substrate and the previous owner swears by it?

Can you just clean the crushed coral and then add new sand to it to speed up the cycle? Well yes, you can but why would you? Saving money is usually the first answer I hear. If you do add sand to a crushed coral substrate you will fill in all the gaps to prevent detritus from building up, but if you do not clean the crushed coral properly you have now just locked in that detritus which will decay and release its problem elements.

The other problem is your substrate will still be too coarse for any sand-sifting Clean-Up-Crew to help keep it clean. The best practice is to dispose of the crushed coral and start with new sand, dry or alive. Just spend the little bit of cash now to install a new sandbed and save yourself potentially many nitrate and phosphate problems in the years to come.

It is far easier to remove the crushed coral now than to do it when the aquarium is full of life and Algae! This is by far the most popular sand for saltwater aquariums because it is comprised of a type of Calcium Carbonate that will slowly dissolve in a solution of Ph 8. This is important because most reef tanks like to sit at a Ph of around 8. As the Aragonite slowly dissolves, it releases Calcium Carbonate into the water which is then consumed by the invertebrates to build their shells and corals like LPS and SPS to build their skeletons.

This is also a calcium carbonate-based mineral except it dissolves at a much lower Ph of 7. With saltwater aquariums having a much higher Ph this type of substrate will never dissolve. Options View top chatters Open in popup. N NeilP Loading…. Unlike Nov 3, Unlike Nov 4, The fridge treatment worked! Unlike Nov 5, AxieMom ig- : hello, i wanted to ask if somebody can help me with my axolotl.

I think he has red leg. AxieMom ig- : his tail, hands, and feet have red spots. I wanted to attempt the salt bath method, but I am afraid to do it because I don't know how to. AxieMom ig- : if you need a photo just ask. AxieMom ig- : i went to the nearest fish shop, wanting to buy salt and the person attending us said that he recommended putting him in water with Methylene blue drops. AxieMom ig- : he is only a baby axolotl, he has a tank mate, luckily the tankmate only has one small dot on this mouth.

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NeilP : Hello. Unlike 28 minutes ago. NeilP : I have two axolotls one boy and one girl and I recently changed them to feeding every other day. Since then, the female has lost two gils and then red marks appeared on two of her legs Which my local aquatic centre said looked like bite marks rather than red leg and this morning, the female's front left leg is having on by a thread. I was going to the by a divider for my tank to stop them mating but now it seems I need to buy it asap to stop the male eating the female.

Sand vs cc, sand looks nice in my opinion, but does limit a few species unless you add in some shells or crushed coral. Some species need a soft sand bottom on the flip side of that. CC collects lots of crap literally and cause nitrate spikes. I would look at marcosrocks. Joined: Jun 20, Messages: Location: Canada. I use a mix or black sand and aragonite which is basically very fine crushed coral Looks like black and white sand pretty cool actually.

I agree, don't waste money on "live" sand When you cycle the tank and add LR all the critters will multiply and migrate down to the sandbed and make it live. But I def suggest sand over CC Aragonite is best of all IMO.. Best of both worlds.