Crushed coral is BAD!

I didnt know this until very recently, i'm sure many others do know this but for those that dont...well...Curshed coral is BAD!

I have had a 30 gallon marine (fish only) tank for years, from time to time I have wanted to add Anemones...I know that with anemones you have to have low nitrates as off the chart readings will cause then to waste away and die!
In the past I have made attempts but my nitrates were high, I tried to lower them with additives and water changes, recently i made a huge push to get those nitrates down.
I used additives, I did massive water changes, I used SeaChem's Denitrate, I vac'ed the crushed coral, I replaced the filter media and initially my nitrates would fall but after a 24 hour period of time the test would show my nitrates off the chart again!...I was ready again to give up!
On a whim I stoped by my favorite store and spoke to the owner whom I have known for some time, we hammered out what I have done so far and he was a bit stumped as well but then suggested that it could be the CC. He explained that because the tank was years old the CC has become encrusted with waste and that even removing it and rinsing it would not help because the waste was now embedded into the grains of CC.
We devised a test to prove the theroy. I bought a 5 1/2 gallon tank when I got home I removed 5 or 6 large handfuls of the CC and put it into the 5 1/2 g tank. Then I tested the sea water that I had sitting for water changes, it tested zero on my Nitrate test kit, I then filled up the 5 1/2 with that water and waited.
The Next morning I tested the water again...the water that tested as ZERO the day before...BAM 5.0 ppm!
Taking in account that the ratio of CC to water in the 5 1/2 was much lower the theroy has been proven! the CC is harbouring nitrates BIG TIME!

Today I start the process of slowly removing the CC in favor of sand!

Just thought I would share!

CB~

 

Good luck!

 

Whatever substrate you use, nitrate, phosphate and other organic molecules will adhere to it over time and will be released when aggitated. Even the glass will become a surface for such molecules to attach to. These nutrients will over time leach into the water, usually to be used by algae. The only way to stop it is to have macro algae, ATS, anaerobic bacteria through carbon dosing or sulphur filter etc to use up the leached nutrients if and when they occur.