base material sand or coral

[dk2177]

base material sand or coral; help for new aquarium

I've read a bunch of different things as far as using sand or crushed coral as a base. I've figured out that most use a combo of live sand and playbox sand. Should any crushed coral be mixed in at all?? I've got a 72 gallon I am setting back up. I had to move and it did not survive I had it up and running for 2 years but after trying to refresh my brain on how to set it up I'm stuck on the base material. Typically how deep should the bed be? Appreciate the help. DK

 

[wastememphis]

For proper filtration means a sand bed should be pretty deep. I wouldn't mix the sand and CC but play sand and a little bit of live sand can help seed your tank with life.

 

[jessie]

my sand bed is 3-4 inches deep, and about 30% of it is also crushed coral and crushed live rock. i put the crushed coral and crushed live rock in there for any burrowing fish i might later add. some fish use it to strengthen their burrows.

 

[dk2177]

more details

I guess what I am really asking is what major difference are there from having a deep sand bed or a crushed coral base. I will have a canister filter, powerheads, and a skimmer. I have not yet decided whether or not to have a fish only tank. Someone at work has a large SW tank and he has a crushed coral base that he is able to clean fairly easily. Thanks for the info so far.