crush coral chip sunstrate

[jun]

crush coral chip as a main tank substrate, will it increase the nitrite(from the fish waste settling in the substrate?) or it aids in the grow of bacteria to maintain the nitrite???

[hondaker]

coral chips offer a place for nitrifying bacterias to grow(these convert ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate), however, they do not de-nitrify the nitrates into nitrogen gas

as such, the chips themselves often trap waste and contribute a lot more nitrates to the water

my advise is to switch to a lower grade sand(grade 0 or grade 1) instead of using coral chips