75 Gallon Tank crushed coral ??

Ok so I'm looking for a new type of substrate and I cam across this stuff called crushed coral looks fairly cheap am setting up a 75 gallon tank and don't like the look of dark gravel. Also does tips on sand as a substrate is appreciated
I have heard that sand is constantly clouding up your water. I don't think this would be true unless you kept your filter on while you do sand/gravel vac but heard it from a friend so was just curious.

 

Crushed coral raises your pH and is mostly used as a substrate for tanks with cichlids. I would just go with sand if your pH isn't incredibly low. Sand does not cloud up your water and is easier to clean than gravel. Debris sit at the top and don't go down like with gravel. Just siphon the top to remove the debris.

 

I have some of this and I used it when I had a puffer where I wanted to bring up his pH. It is okay but it is really dirty. It clouds my water like nobodys business, if it is agitated, that is. You can gravel vac all day and it will still be dirty.

 

Thanks ill just try sand for now I've heard good and bad things about it. It would be easier to mop up all the sand than a bunch of crushed up coral

 

I went with sand in my 55G, and love it. The sand itself actually sinks fairly rapidly if it gets disturbed. What causes the cloudiness is shortcutting the washing of the sand prior to laying it. Make sure you are getting absolutely clear water from each load of the sand you are rinsing prior to laying it in the tank and you'll be fine.

I used the $2.50/ 20 lbs playsand from Walmart, rinsed the out of it, and haven't had any issues with cloudiness.

It did cause my original filter to burn up, but it was also a cheap Wal-mart job. The intake strainer was very low in the tank, and because of the limited options for placement any sand that collected on the bubble wall would get blown right into the filter and into the impeller/ motor when the air was on. I'm running a Cascade canister now that allows me to tuck the intake out of the way, and a bit higher off the substrate and I haven't had any other issues.

 

Rinse

I went with sand in my 55G, and love it. The sand itself actually sinks fairly rapidly if it gets disturbed. What causes the cloudiness is shortcutting the washing of the sand prior to laying it. Make sure you are getting absolutely clear water from each load of the sand you are rinsing prior to laying it in the tank and you'll be fine.

I used the $2.50/ 20 lbs playsand from Walmart, rinsed the out of it, and haven't had any issues with cloudiness.

It did cause my original filter to burn up, but it was also a cheap Wal-mart job. The intake strainer was very low in the tank, and because of the limited options for placement any sand that collected on the bubble wall would get blown right into the filter and into the impeller/ motor when the air was on. I'm running a Cascade canister now that allows me to tuck the intake out of the way, and a bit higher off the substrate and I haven't had any other issues.

how exactly do you rinse it

 

I used just a 5 gallon bucket. Filled about 1/3-1/2 of the bucket with the sand. Then placed a water hose in the bucket and turned it on. With the water running in the bucket I stirred the sand (not too hard or you'll lose a lot of your sand in the water overflow). Keep the water running and keep stirring until the water overflow out of the bucket runs clear.

I'm sure there's other ways, but this one worked for me & it's pretty simple.

 

ok

I used just a 5 gallon bucket. Filled about 1/3-1/2 of the bucket with the sand. Then placed a water hose in the bucket and turned it on. With the water running in the bucket I stirred the sand (not too hard or you'll lose a lot of your sand in the water overflow). Keep the water running and keep stirring until the water overflow out of the bucket runs clear.

I'm sure there's other ways, but this one worked for me & it's pretty simple.

ok thanks ill probally try that