Substrate-what Is Your Preferred One And Why?

[Janice]

So Colby and I are getting a new 16G Coraline biocube to have as an "emergency tank" with mostly corals in it, and just a couple of fish. We are debating what substrate to use and considering using the black substrate that we see some people using (not sure what it is made of).

What is your favourite substrate, why, and are there any types of substrate you would recommend against?

Thanks!

 

[Josh]

Kind of depends on a few things. Are you going to use it as a quarantine? Not sure if people recommend barebottom on tanks that you intend to treat in. I just redid my biocube 29g and i used Carib Sea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand. Not sure how accurate the claim is but they claim that it helps with buffering PH. Which is something you have to keep an eye on if you are using GFO which i am..... So im helping it helps keep things a bit more stable.

 

[Janice]

No, not a treatment/quarantine tank. Just an extra tank. We are looking at the
CaribSea Instant Aquarium Tahitian Moon Reef & Marine Substrate

 

[Salty Cracker]

+100 on the sea-flor, anything that can hold bacteria is better for the fish. I've seen quarantine tanks with nothing in them, meaning when you put fish in, there is nothing to combat the influx of food/ammonia, and the fish die of shock. Don't set up a quarantine based on looks... I mean you're going to be hitting it with medication/chemicals, but medecine doesn't usually kill bacteria (I probably wouldn't put any liverock in though). When medication is done, running carbon and a water change would likely reset it nicely. I liken it to putting the fish back in the ocean, instead of putting them in a glass box on the shelf.

(I have never run a quarantine tank, I do consider fish expendable compared to the overall health of the tank).

 

[Janice]

It is going to be a second tank really-not a quarantine tank. We may get a quarantine at a later date, or maybe we never will like Salty Cracker