Substrate

[RothChyld]

(last question for the day!)

I have no idea what kind of substrate I have. When I bought the tank I was pretty new to the hobby and accepted whatever they gave me. It looks like small rocks. Is this what they consider crushed coral and is it good for sandsifting gobies? It clearly isn't sand.

Thank you in advance!


Setup
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90g Reef Tank (3 years of age)

Fish: 8 Chromis Damsels, Yellow Tang, Red Hawkfish, Lawnmower Blenny, 3 Bar Gobies, Sandsifting Goby, Royal Gramma, Maroon Clown, peppermint shrimp, featherduster, several turbos and hermies.

Inverts etc: Bubble, Hammer, 3 Gorgonias (brown, red, yellow), 2 finger leathers, 1 elephant leather, 30 or so mushrooms, brown polyp colony, brown/green polyp colony, torch, plate coral (looks like a plate and its hard - no tentacles or anything)

Water:
Everything is in range. Sometimes I have nitrate spikes but not enough to damage anything. Also that means that instead of no reading its miniscule. Temp stays around 80. I can break down if needed.

Infrastructure: wet/dry with liverock inside for the trickle, carbon underneath, and protein skimmer. I have about 3" of substrate floor.

[VoodooChild]

Sounds like crushed coral. Maybe aragonite. Either way, it may be too big for a sandsifter. What they eat is more commonly found in smaller grained substrate and they might have a hard time sifting through larger pieces. Your set up looks pretty good, but make sure you stay up on water changes. That's alot of fish for a 90, especially without the benefits of a DSB. I'd also recommend taking the carbon out of your filter and just keep the LR in (good idea). It's just soaking up everything right away and will probably absorb everything it can after a day or two. Plus, it'll take elements and minerals away that your corals need, and they're getting protein skimmed as it is. Otherwise looks good! Good luck and hang in there!

[RothChyld]

I finally busted out my camera. Here is a pic if you can clarify.

Thanks!

Mike
:)

[gcvt]

Looks like crushed coral to me. :)