Now, I know this question has been asked before, let me tell you why i‘m asking it. I have a 55 gallon Saltwater tank at the moment, i‘m thinking about upgrading the somewhat near future to a 135 gallon tank. I currently have a small grain crushed coral substrate (It‘s small grain, but still a fair size bigger than sand). Also, I know that crushed coral will gather and trap food particles more than sand, etc. I‘m asking my question because I have a Horseshoe crab, about 3-4 inches across, and he is probably 90 percent under the crushed coral. Will he have any problems with burrowing in sand? Also any other reasons why anyone thinks that sand is better than crushed coral. Also for those who have a sand substrate, how do you clean your tank so that you don‘t suck up all your sand. Do you still vacuum the floor, or just have a bunch of cleaners so you don‘t have to do it? I‘d appreciate your input! :)
No difference really in the aquarium sand purchased for salt water since it is mostly made from crushed shells. I have both dolomite and sand. Dolomite in my large reef 350 and 300 sand in the smaller ones. SInce I rarely need to vac the bottom it just works better for the cridders that are in the tank. I like the look of sand in the smaller tanks since you can actually see most of the bottoms. My horseshoe doesn't seem to mind the sand he stays burried almost all the time. I clean it just like the fresh water, however you need to keep the vac far enough above the sand. Some will always get picked up. Also, you can stir the sand to allow the debris (if any) circulate the tank and allow the filter to pull it out. I don't have a large problem with debris since I have bristle worms that clean just about everything that is laying around.
The crushed Coral is a natural PH buffer but I prefer the sand as My stars and burrowers such as my gobys prefer the sand. Aside from that CC traps to many waste products in between all the openings and its to hard to vacuum out. Get some other opinions so you can find all the pro's and con's because once its in its pretty difficult to change it.
I like the sand because of the critters. Jessie already mentioned the starfish but I also have an engineer goby and two spot goby that prefer sand. I not going to say much because Jessie and Danielle have pretty well covered the topic but I will say that I don't vacuum my sand or crushed coral. After the aquarium matures it just isn't necessary. The critters do it all for me.
