Anerobic or what?

[mugwuch]

Hello All, only me... I have just changed the gravel in my tank to crushed coral, after removing the undergravel filter. I'm a little worried about the depth of it. How deep should it be to avoid the dreaded 'dead' patches? I've never run a tank without an UGF, and as such have never been too bothered about the depth. Any ideas? Thanks. M.

 

[Tropjunky]

dead patches!? Don't have a clue but if u've got tropical fish i wouldn't use coral as it leaches too many minerals into the water but it's O.K for marine and chiclids. silica sand is the safes option. It should be about 1.5 inches.

 

[Bol]

From what I've learned, the dreaded anaerobic hydrogen sulfide producting dead spots are more of a problem in theory than in practice. Grain of salt, of course.

If you have live plants, that will help, as the roots will help "break up" the substrate.

I've never used crushed coral. How large is the particle size, and how porous are the particles? Is it more like sand, or gravel-sized?

 

[Tropjunky]

totaly man!

but don't you think sand is a better idea, for the fish and plants i mean.

 

[noelberg]

it depends what fish mugwuch is keeping, tropjunky. Crushed coral can be decent for fish that do better or are more likely to spawn in high pH water. Some fish - especially high pH loving cichlids - will also move your substrate around. Live tubifex worms can burrow into the substrate and stir it a little - then they're lunch when they pop out of the substrate!

 

[Tropjunky]

Yah but only for chiclids and marine enviroment. And considering that most people keep tropical fish i'd say as a general rule crushed corral isn't such a good idea and corral leaches a hell of a lot of minerals into the water and it's a bit too much for tprical fish.

 

[Lateral Line]

The only kind of freshwater setup that really gets any benefit from crushed coral is a rift valley tank. For most other types, it hardens the water and raises the pH to unacceptable levels.