Opinion pls... for my tank

[mr_brix]

i have a 72gal tank.. i have 80lbs of crushed coral in it... now i'm thinking putting sand insted.. now im wondering can i just take out half of the crushed coral and put sand on top of it??? right now my tank is infested by the ich.. and i tried the garlic treatment and i dont think its working.. now i have no idea what to do and i dont think my fish will last cuz they look very sick.. but i still do the treatment.. if my fishes dies i'm going to start over again.. should i put sand only and take out all of the crushed coral..

[Samper]

Most would completely remove the crushed coral and either go with a deep CaCO3 sandbed or bare bottom.

I have Leebca to thank for properly learning to quarantine and handle new fish. I had a horrible success rate until I really started to read the stickies in the Marine Fish section.

[Ninong]

should i put sand only and take out all of the crushed coral..

Yes.

[Trickster]

I run mine w/crushed coral only works fine but sure a mix is fine to. The ich will die without the fish so don't add any new ones.

A good article on ich
The Marine Ich Epidemic « Joe Jaworski’s Weblog

[Ninong]

If you put fine particle aragonite sand on top of crushed coral, the sand will eventually settle and the crush coral will eventually rise to the top.

[Trickster]

Yes

ok I think I missed something, are you wanting the sand for looks?

[mr_brix]

what is the difference between crushed coral n sand???

[Ninong]

what is the difference between crushed coral n sand???

Crushed coral looks like this.

Aragonite sand looks like this.

Crushed coral is much, much larger than fine particle aragonite sand. Both are calcium carbonate. Aragonite sand that is sold for the aquarium hobby in North America all comes from the same place: Ocean Cay, 20 miles south of Bimini in the Bahamas, where it is mined by Marcona Ocean Industries. That aragonite sand was formed by precipitation over the Bahama banks. The Bahama banks have been forming for the past 160 million years and in some places the aragonite deposits are 5,700 meters thick.

Aragonite sand can also be formed by parrotfish feeding on the reefs. They bite off chunks and grind it up with their teeth to extract the zooxanthellae and the fine particles of the coral's aragonite skeleton are expelled through their gills falling to the sea bed as brand new aragonite sand. It's also formed by the decay of calcium carbonate algae, such as Halimeda and by the skeletons of many different marine organisms, such as foramineferans. A substantial amount of the araonite sand in the white sand beaches of Hawaii comes from Halimeda. The black sand beaches of Hawaii are all volcanic in origin.

Anyway, the main difference between crushed coral and aragonite sand is that crushed coral is made up of much, much larger individual particles that have jagged edges compared to the smooth, fine particle aragonite sand. Both are CaCO3 (calcium carbonate). Crushed coral typically contains bits and pieces of sea shells, too.

[mr_brix]

hey i was browsing an local store website.. there is different kind whats the best to get... this the products

Browse Catalog

[Ninong]

The first two products -- Carib-Sea aragamax (0.1-1.0mm) and Carib-Sea white marine sand (0.1-0.3mm) -- are both acceptable. The white marine sand is more expensive. They will both appear white in the aquarium with the lights on.

The main difference is the particle size distribution. You might want to get some of both and then mix them well before putting in your tank.

[mr_brix]

by the way how many pounds of sand should i put?

[Ninong]

by the way how many pounds of sand should i put?

That depends on how deep you want your sand bed to be. Each 35 lbs should give you about 1" of depth in your size tank. I would probably go with about 100 lbs for your particular tank.