Orangespot Diamond Goby work with Florida Crushed Coral?

I am setting up a new 55 gallon and I cant decide on my substrate. I like the idea of the crushed coral for a ph buffer and its cheap. My wife has her heart set on a orangespot diamond goby and I need to make sure I do this right. I added crushed coral yesterday added water and added the salt. If I need to change the substrate I need to do it now. Any help or ideas?

Thanks

 

i have that same goby and he does great in my tank is gotten really big, i dont have crushed coral i have sand.

i believe when the sift through the sand and through there gills they get some sort of nutrients or food from it, not really sure so dont quote me on that

 

I found this thread.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/fish-mo...nnea-puellaris-april-06-fish-month-35912.html

Could I add a couple bags of live sand on top of the crushed coral?

 

The sand would eventually go to the bottom and the crushed coral would be on top.

 

If you could rig something up as separation you could in theory have both... only problem I see is that the water movement pushes the sand around quite a bit.

 

They won't stay mixed for ever... and you never want to stir it back together



I have crushed coral - but you'll find some very strong opinions that crushed coral is terrible. I believe the thinking is that crushed coral has the potential to trap nitrates and eventually this will cause problems.


It's a personal choice. Pick one and go for it!

 

What would I need to use?

Is this stuff ok to use?

Special grade sand
Two 40lb bags.

Marine Reef Aquarium Substrates: Arag-Alive

 

Could I use home depot play sand?

 

Not recommended. Invest in some decent live sand. You can mix with other sand from the LFS that isn't "live" and it will seed, to save on cash. Play sand is a completely separate grade, and may contain silicates and many other impurities that will cause problems with your tank.

 

I decided on Caribbean Live Sand Fine Oolite Substrate 40 lbs.