crushed coral?

[tywtly]

Ok, I'm still trying to decide whether or not to turn my 55 gal. FOWLR into a reef or octo tank. If I decide to do octos, I'm planning on bimacs. Ok, now the problem...the tank has a crushed coral substrate...is this ok for a bimac? I know sand is recommended, but I don't want to go through the trouble of a substrate change! If crushed coral is ok, then the tank is almost ready...if not, then it looks like another cycle period...

 

[flamingo]

Idk personally about keeping an octo over crushed coral since I haven't had one yet- but IMO crushed coral sucks to begin with. There are a lot of individuals out there that swear this stuff is worthless, and there are also others that use it in every set-up. With what I usually keep,sand would be better.. and just taking a guess, but the high bio-load of an octo might also be helped out with a sand bed rather than crushed coral that traps more "stuff."

Just my opinion of course.

 

[DWhatley]

Swapping substrate

If it helps any , I have found that you can remove the crushed coral with relative ease but punching holes in a "Solo" cup and scooping where you can then using a large siphon hose for any more that you want to remove. You really don't have to remove all of it.

To add the sand, go to an automotive store (maybe Walmart has them in the auto department too) and find the largest, LONGEST funnel they have (tank height plus is recommended). With a little finesse, you can slowly put a layer of sand where you want it without a lot of disruption. I have added a "sandbox" twice this way for my brain coral. The tank was back to normal in a couple of hours - not days - and my corals and fish were none the worse for wear. Part of the trick seems to be submersing the funnel so that as you add sand it is good and wet before it is released to the tank. If you have a lot of floating stuff in the funnel you can plug the bottom end in your new sand and siphon anything loose in the upper portion.

 

[tywtly]

Ok, I'll just add sand on top of my crushed coral then, at least, a layer of my crushed coral. I have a 4 inch crushed coral bed, so I'l just remove half of it, and cover it with sand. Thanks for the input!