Deep crushed coral sandbed

[Sipec]

Would it be possible to have a sandbed of crushed coral, maybe three to four inches deep? What issues might I encounter? Would I have to vacuum it?

 

[Biglew11]

Crushed coral is very course, and would trap alot of detrious. recommended sand depth seems to be around 1 to 2 inches.
3 to 4 inch crushed coral is a nitrate bomb waiting to go off, no matter how much you vaccume.

 

[HuduVudu]

You are creating a DSB and you need to be aware of how they work and how to properly maintain them. They are an advanced system and you can be easily be fooled into thinking that they are just sand.

 

[Biglew11]

You are creating a DSB and you need to be aware of how they work and how to properly maintain them. They are an advanced system and you can be easily be fooled into thinking that they are just sand.

didn't think about if op was trying to create a dsb on purpose. crushed coral would still be wrong for that use.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Crushed coral will not create a DSB.

As other poster mentioned it would be tremendous detritus storage.

I don't see this being successful long term.

 

[Sipec]

What if I were to use under-gravel filters?

 

[Biglew11]

What if I were to use under-gravel filters?

under gravel filters are pretty much out of favour now, some old timers may still be using them, but probably as reversed flow ugf. water pushing up from underneath the sand. but 4 inches is still to deep.

 

[Sipec]

Would two inches be ok?

 

[Sltloser]

If you would like to create a DSB for your aquarium I would highly recommend reading "Sandbed Secrets" by Dr. Ron Shimek. This outlines how to create a sucessful DSB for your aquarium. The short answer is that crushed coral is too coarse and most sandbed organisms are unable to live within it due to the size and sharp edges of the "sand". This will lead to a poorly funcitonal sandbed. If you would like to do a DSB utilize Oolitic sand (Carib sea, ocean direct, etc. all have this product) between 3-6" deep. Again though, I stress reading this small book by Dr. Ron Shimek before embarking on this journey so that you have a plan in place for how you will successfully create and maintain the DSB.

 

[Sipec]

I guess I should prolly say what I'm trying to do
I plan on getting some wrasses, but also want some sessile bottom cridders like rock flowers
My plan was to make a border wall out of rock fragments and have a softer sandbed with a crushed coral bed on either side

 

[Alex808]

Like other posters have already said. You need smaller sand or a mix of small crushed coral and sand. In my fresh water tanks, I had a mix of sand and the mini river rocks that were about the size of rice and smaller. Light enough for snails and cleaning crew to mix it and move it but small and packed tight enough not to be full of pockets and releasing bubbles constantly. There’s a sweet spot that sits between sand and medium sized crushed coral and that’s why I mixed it. Depth can vary in my opinion and in smaller tanks, you can get DSB Benefits at around 2 inches if your sands consistency is right.
When I set up my 20long. I took all the dirty nasty churned up gunk sand from the very bottom of my smaller tank being torn down and put it on the bottom of the 20 and then covered it with new sand. I’ve done this with the last few tanks and waited less than a week for the tank to be considered “cycled”.

I do not vacuum my sand bed at all. Ever. And I feel the sand bad keeps my tank stable. Same principle as the Miracle Mud people use in their sumps. Vacuuming sand to keep it “clean” is for aesthetics only in my opinion but again. Depends if someone has a deep sand bed or not.

 

[Sltloser]

I guess I should prolly say what I'm trying to do
I plan on getting some wrasses, but also want some sessile bottom cridders like rock flowers
My plan was to make a border wall out of rock fragments and have a softer sandbed with a crushed coral bed on either side

Do you have a drawing or picture of what your envision? Also what is your thought process behind having the two different types of substrate?

 

[Sipec]

Well, I was kinda gonna have it like

Section of cc____Sand____Section of cc

Basically a central sandbed flanked by two beds of cc on either side
Idea was to give the wrasses a place to bury themselves (the sandbed) but still be able to keep coral on the bottom of the tank (cc)

 

[Hugh Mann]

I would imagine unless there is a physical barrier keeping them separated, over time from current, fish and invert movements the two different substrates would end up mixing over time.

Can't say anything about wrasses, but my nassarius snails move through my crushed Coral quite easily, thought it is on the smaller side, couple millimeters.

 

[HuduVudu]

I don't think you are going to be able to keep the sands separated like you think will unless you use some form of barrier. In time it will all mix together.

 

[Sipec]

Well I was going to put bits of live rock between, but I guess it could still pass over that

 

[Sltloser]

That makes more sense now. I would just stick with 1 type of sand across the aquarium, this will keep the entire sand bed functional. For corals at the bottom you can always use small pieces of live rock; either small pieces, shelf rock, or broken up rock to create a rubble area for placing corals on the bottom.

Rock flower anemones (from the Caribbean at least) are typically found on rocks or on the sand bed which has very fine substrate. Having smaller substrate should not be a problem for them at all, but adding some rubble rock or a piece of branching rock wouldn't be a bad idea for them either.

 

[Sipec]

I'll try rock rubble then
Thanks

 

[Hugh Mann]

Well I was going to put bits of live rock between, but I guess it could still pass over that

You could maybe get away with glass or acrylic partitions, raised a little bit above the depth of the beds, which I am sure would help, but over the years and decades aquariums run for, I'm also quite sure it would eventually get mixed up.

 

[blasterman]

The most spectacular SPS tanks I've seen the past few years all run crushed coral beds 4-6" deep, don't have nitrate problems, dont gravel vac, and their bed is snow white.

Maybe some of you should stop over stocking your tanks and you wouldn't have deitrus problems.