Crushed coral swap

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Roy

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Hey guys

My Boyu TL550 is finnished 1st first cycle (5 Weeks). i have added some dead thingy's and waiting for the second cycle to complete. I have 8kg LR and thanks to the LFS i have 20kg crushed coral.:nono:

how/ when should I ditch the coral for something else?

thanks Roy
 
I would take it out now, and cycle further with the new sand. You might have to cycle a little bit longer now, but your parameters should tell you in a couple of weeks ;)
 
How?
answer = easiest way is to suck it up. same way as sucking up the water when doing a water change.(with a pipe) just get the water running in the pipe then put the end that is in the tank on the substrate and it will get sucked up into your bucket. This all depends on what size the crushed coral is :). Considering you are still cycling i would then just put the sucked up water back into the tank. and enjoy the cycling process. Take your time.
 
How fine or how coarse is the crushed coral? If it's very fine it might be alright.
 
viper357 said:
How fine or how coarse is the crushed coral? If it's very fine it might be alright.
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You a braver man than me, :). And yet i agree crushed coral can do the job admirably, providing the consistency is fine enough. The voices of derision are all around us though.
 
sunburst said:
You a braver man than me, :). And yet i agree crushed coral can do the job admirably, providing the consistency is fine enough. The voices of derision are all around us though.
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The coral i have is the consistency of rice crispies, not sand. I see there are a few lone voices supporting the crushed coral, judging by the majority the bacteria in the coral is not good, (but in live rock it is?)

I'll get it out this weekend, hopefully the cycle should coincide with payday and then i can get the first fish.

I assusme aragonite is live rock?

Regards Roy
 
No, aragonite is very fine CaCO3 sand. Live Rock is Live Rock...;) I have the Rice Crispies consistency Crushed Coral in my tank, it works ok, but aragonite would look way better IMO!
 
hotdog83 said:
No, aragonite is very fine CaCO3 sand. Live Rock is Live Rock...;) I have the Rice Crispies consistency Crushed Coral in my tank, it works ok, but aragonite would look way better IMO!
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How many KG should I require in my Boyo TL550? 20?

can i mix 50/50 with playsand?

thanks
 
You need just enough to cover the base (1-2cm), probably only going to be 2-3kg. How deep is the 20kg Crushed coral substrate at the moment?? You can make the substrate 15cm deep for an intank DSB (Deep Sand Bed) that in time will help in denitrification, anything shallower than that and deeper than 2cm is a waste of space IMO. If you mean mix the aragonite with the playsand, that will not be a problem!
 
hotdog83 said:
You need just enough to cover the base (1-2cm), probably only going to be 2-3kg. How deep is the 20kg Crushed coral substrate at the moment?? You can make the substrate 15cm deep for an intank DSB (Deep Sand Bed) that in time will help in denitrification, anything shallower than that and deeper than 2cm is a waste of space IMO. If you mean mix the aragonite with the playsand, that will not be a problem!
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I have minimum of 10cm crushed coral at the mo. I will be collecting some aragonite from Dorry within the next few days and do the change on Saturday.

i will dump in the full 10 kg bag and let it cycle again.
 
Take reggies play sand and wash decently - much cheaper than aragonite. Some say aragonite is overpriced and overrated ;). It does not give the full buffering capacity as some LFS states. Just what I've read :p
 
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