Some advice please!!!

hi guys

my tank just finished cycling not long ago with a fish inside
i'm currently using crushed corals as my bedding and i've been advised to change it to sand as it looks better, can i just add it inside? i have brown algae on my CC now.. is it gonna have any side effects?? :-/

oh yeah, i'm jsut gonna layer the sand over the crushed corals!

 

The sand will settle to the bottom and the CC (Crushed Coral) will work its way back on top. Its best to remove the CC.

 

Also if ou plan on having any stars, or bottomfeeders the CC has jaged edges that can cut up your inverts

 

Sorry to highjack this thread but I also was going to do the same thing. I personaly don't like the look of the CC. Is there any other benifits with the sand other then the constant vaccuming of the CC? And would it throw a established tank into a full cycle again?

 

You've been advised to change it because it looks better? This isn't advise, this is someone's aesthetic opinion. As far as what looks better, that is entirely up to you.

Personally, IMO, crushed coral looks a lot better. I prefer it.

This is correct. If you just finished cycling, you may want to entertain the idea of starting over...

Otherwise, you can only do this in sections. Use a divider, and do 1/3 of the switch this week. Another 1/3 in another week or two, so on. The cycle just added a lot of bacteria to the substrate. You can't switch it out all at once without causing problems.

Adding sand on top of the CC will only give you a thicker substrate (not recommended) with, eventually, CC back on top.

Sort of true. I was told CC would tear up my nassariums snails for example. Not true. My ceriths, planaxis, and nassarius all burrow in my CC. All my other snails have no problem gliding across it either. My dwarf brittle star fish are all through it. I would say this is a misconception in general with inverts.

I've read, but have no experience with, that there are some fish that can get damaged in a CC bottom... I've never had a problem with this though.

 

But since it's such a new tank, removing the CC would destroy the bacteria right? should i wait or something?

 

Vacuuming isn't really relevant... I'd say neither should be vacuumed, but there are examples of people successfully vacuuming both... I don't think that comes into this question.



CC, given enough time (years), has the potential to trap detritus, etc. with in it causing nitrates later on. A good CuC will lessen this to a point ... I have lots of snails that sift and mix my CC substrate... I'm not real concerned with this concern...



IMO, it mostly has to do with aesthetics and that is a personal choice...

 

I also am using CC, and my snails do fine. As for the fish, if it tries to burrow in it might get cut. But I have no such fish so I couldn't tell you. I think it just depends on what look you like the best.

 

This is why you have to do it in segments over several weeks...


If it were me... I'd start over and do the cycle again...

 

sad.. :-[ i think i'll just add a turbo snail to remove those algae
and i'm thinking of adding a clarkii clownfish to my blue fiji damsel , since a fiji requires a fiercer and bigger counterpart .. what do you guys think?