Crushed Coral Questions....

[Owens187]

i see alot on these forums saying not to use crushed coral, or at least mix it with sand...mostly because it isnt fine enough.......well my fish shop sells three diffrent sizes....they have 1/4 to 1/2 inch crush, 1/8 to 1/4 inch crush, and then a very fine crush wich is every bit just as fine as sand. they have this fine crush in every one of theyre fowlr and reef tanks, and said that is all they ever use.(hes been keeping saltwater for 20+ years he said) it looks great in theyre tanks!! what do you think of this?? just wondering because i love the way it looks, not to mention the benificial ph :D buffering qualities. thanx yall!!

[BBN]

I used the finely crushed stuff that almost lookes like sand in my 75g. In my first tank which was a 55g I used regular crushe coral and I hate it. Looks horrivle and eventually turned a dingey grayish/green color. The sand, with a few sandsifters, will maintain a pretty good color.

[OrionGirl]

I guess it's important to distinguish between 'typical' crushed coral, and a fine grained product. Normal stuff has grains up to about 1/4 inch, and will not compact enough to produce the low flow, anaerobic areas needed to support the nitrate consuming bacteria, even in extreme depths. If you have access to very finely crushed stuff, it should work fine. It isn't that crushed coral is bad, just that most often it's not crushed enough. ;)

[Owens187]

cool! :sim: yeah this stuff is crushed super fine!!