# to replace or not to replace the substrate?



## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

Hi everyone had my tank set up a month ago , its fully cycled and have some africans in it.The substrate is crushed coral which is mostly white but unfortunately with some yellow in it which look kinda dirty.I found aragonite white sand with the grain bigger than usual sand and smaller than my crushed coral gravel.i dont know the exact size but looks awesome and its bright white.Im gonna remove the beneficial bacteria in case i change the substrate aint i?I dont even want to hear about starting the cycle again just because of the substrate.Any advice is greatly appreciated.


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

As far as I know, the majority of bacteria live inside your filter(s), so changing the substrate shouldn't cause the tank to uncycle. If you want, you could put some of the crush coral in a mesh bag and place it inside your filter, before replacing the rest with sand. Or, you could simply pile the sand on top of the crushed coral, though you might want to remove some of the crush coral first anyways.


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

yes youre right about the filter but let me tell you, when i first cycled my tank, all i had in my FX5 was the sponges that did the mechanical filtration and in the baskets just 3 bags of carbon and a cartridge from the previous cycled tank .Now i added bioballs but that got me thinking that really the bacteria is in bigger proportions on the substrate rather than the filter.But what do i know , i just make assumptions .


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I like the idea of putting the crushed coral (with bacteria...scoop off the top layer) into one of your filter baskets. Remove the rest before you add the sand. You don't want to cut off the oxygen to the bacteria on the surface (by adding a layer) and have them rot underneath.


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

Dj so you say it should be fine?also should i leave the fish out of the tank only for a few hours til the sand settles or more?I thought im never gonna see the crushed coral out of the tank .Should have gotten the aragonite from the beginning.Heard that crushed coral causes ich .true or not?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Crushed coral does not cause ich.

Your sand should not need to settle...clean the heck out of it. That process will take hours but if you do it well, you will have a crystal clear tank from the first moment.

As long as you have a good crop of bacteria in your filter and you do not disturb the bacteria on any other tank surface (inside glass, rocks, equipment) I think you will be fine.

I'd only leave the fish out for as long as it takes to scoop out the old and add the new plus refill. Be careful combining aggressive fish in small buckets.

Vacuum, vacuum, deep vacuum the crushed coral several times in advance. If you have cloudy water, it is more likely to be because of dirt already trapped in the crushed coral that gets released when you disturb it to remove than any sediment in the new substrate providing it is properly washed.

By the way, nothing wrong with aragonite, but I've had it for 7 years and I would not buy it again (save the $$)...it does not do all the wonders they claim. I buy PFS now if I want natural colored sand.


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Dj...would another option be to put the old crushed coral into a mesh bag and place the bag in the tank with the new sand? Just wondering if this would be effective or not?


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

Like suspend it in the water? Yea it works. I've done it before, and know others who have done this, when replacing gravel. Still, if there is room in your filter, I'd just put it in the filter. I doubt you'd be able to fit all of the coral into a mesh bag anyways, and even if you did, it would probably take up too much space to be practical.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The mesh bag thing does work...I cycled some early tanks that way. But...more effective in the filter with the water being forced to flow by the bacteria and the coral. You get a bit of buffering and the bacteria get surrounded with oxygenated water. Plus...the bag in the tank is not overly attractive.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Quick question on this subject without trying to hijack the thread
My PH is a steady 7.6 and KH is 4(drops) would some crushed coral help in my new 80 gal im setting up? mixed in with the pfs


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Maybe. But much more likely to have an impact in the filter with the water flowing through it.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> Maybe. But much more likely to have an impact in the filter with the water flowing through it.


I can do that, ty


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

guys theres really no colorquartz left ?did they discontinue it?


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

also not wanting to hijack the thread so just sharing that I'll be making the change tomorrow from gravel to PFS sand in my 55G. My tank runs with two HOB's so I'll pull some of the substrate and bag it and put it into the HOB's and cross my fingers. Everything else will be removed to a new clean trash can that I will put the filters, rocks, plants, etc into with an airstone and the fish will go to holding for a couple of hours for the change.

eutimio keep us informed of how the change goes and DJ...thanks for the input and both of you and all of you thanks for sharing which gave me the courage to try the switch up :wink:


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

eutimio said:


> guys theres really no colorquartz left ?did they discontinue it?


I had a heck of a time finding it not too long ago and gave up. I did find some but to have it shipped made it ridiculously expensive.


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

thats dumb.was looking forward for some and cant find it anywhere.went tonight to home depot to find PFS and couldnt find any.I bought the materials for the spray bar thoughcant wait to assemble it tomorrow.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

In many areas (most?) the easiest place to find PFS in at a pool and spa supply store like Leslies (chain store). Even where winters are cold people need to run their spa filters, right???


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## eutimio (Aug 22, 2012)

does anyone know anything about spectraquartz?i found a site that carries it but only on the east coast .I sent them an email asking about a dealer on the west coast but got no replies so far.I went to my parents house yesterday and saw the 30 gallon i used to have with Tahitian Moon Sand and i fell in love with it all over again lol.My tank is all black on the side and back and with the black sand and some white rocks and the live plants i have(anubias , java fern) i suppose its gonna show the fish color better than the white sand; dont you guys think so?IF i cant find the spectraquartz i will get the TMS despite the price.Does anyone know if it affects the water in any way?I know it took me some good hours to wash it to replace the film and dirt it had in the bag and i also heard its volcanic ??any issues on that?i never cared to research about it when i got it for the other tank.I do care now.Thanks


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Tahitian Moon Sand is fine for the fish and the water.


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## newforestrob (Feb 1, 2010)

Caribsea?-Tahitian moon sand? most of the larger pet stores around here have it or can order it,I have it in a 75 gal,hap/peacock tank,definately brings out the colors,or I should say their colors stand out,I"ll be using this in the 180 gal malawi tank I"m setting up,I really like it as well


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