Crushed coral replace with sand

[The River Reef]

I have a newly started sump with refugium. I have placed some of my crushed coral substrate into the refugium section. I have more space for crushed coral... I have noticed how dirty the crushed coral gets and I am sick of trying to vacuum it all. My plan is to place as much of it in my refugium as possible. Then take most of what is left out of the tank and toss it. After that I would like to replace it with aragonite sand. What are the risks with this and is there a better idea out there?

 

[s_kelley]

Why not run it bare bottomed?

 

[dz6t]

I second bare bottom, very little if any work needed and you can put in a lot of flow and don't need to worry about blowing sand around.

 

[The River Reef]

I never really thought about bare bottom... how does that affect the nitrogen cycle? And does it look funny? If anyone has a clear pic of bare bottom please show me.

 

[dz6t]

No, bare bottom does not affect the nitrogen cycle. Live rocks will take care of it. If you can dop by Concord, MA, I can show you in person.

 

[willray]

No risks just benefits.Bottom line is get rid of ALL the crushed coral.It is IMO the worst thing you can have for substrate...nothing but large razor sharp detrious trapping non-cleanable (Man or critter)tank killing magnets...etc.

 

[The River Reef]

My thoughts were to use in it my refuguim in which I plan on macro as the only living organism... It shouldn't matter there, right? I am still not sure if I would like the look of bare bottom, but I am considering it now for sure! If not then I will go with a thin layer of sand.