Crushed coral with live sand

[fisher1234]

So i hav arganite sand in my tank. I wanted to get some live sand from az friend but remebered he uses crushed coral. Can i still seed my sand wit his crushed coral?????

[renogaw]

they generally don't mix, the CC would stick to the top of the sand, and the sand will find it's way to the bottom. Most CC will have bristle worms, mini stars, pods, etc though. it also will have a lot of detritus which may not be wanted in your tank. I don't think though that you'll get much beneficial bacteria from it. If you have live rock in the tank, you should be fine. it will just take a while to seed the sand.

[reefworm]

ditto - stay away from cc

[sherm71tank]

Stay away from sand also!

[Sk8r]

I agree. The only place I would use something like that would be my refugium, which I can tinker with as needed. Besides, you own sand gets 'live' pretty fast from the rock, from bought specimens, etc. About 8 weeks after set up your sand should be live enough on its own. Borrow a few bristleworms from your friend and plunk those in if you don't have them [don't touch them with bare fingers!] and that is one of the best things such sand can give you.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

IMHO, it would not hurt at all to get a cup or two of his CC and mix it into your sand. You'll be seeding your sand with a variety of life, some of which might not be in your current tank, and by keeping the volume that small you won't run into any of the problems mentioned above.

If you wanted to be super extra picky about not having any "ugly" crushed coral in your pretty new tank, you could put it in a mesh bag and leave it in your tank for a week, then pull it out. Presto - you've seeded your tank, but haven't added any crushed coral permanently.

Personally, I really like the look of fine sand with a handful or two of coarse crushed coral mixed in. I find it adds some visual interest, plus it gives crabs, worms, and some species of fish something to play/work with in your otherwise homogeneous sandbed.