Before and after substrate swap: crushed coral –> live sand!

My boyfriend and I set up this tank with unrinsed crushed coral based on some bad advice from a LFS owner who happened to be out of live sand that day. Turns out detritus builds up FAST and any disturbance creates a thick white cloud, even after siphoning it each water change. We were also bummed to realize we couldn't get a sandsifter.

Five months and lot of R2R threads later, we decided to swap it all at once without taking fish or coral out. It was honestly very stressful, especially because we couldn't account for all the fish for a few hours until the dust settled. Everyone made it out unscathed though, and we're super happy with the results.

Tiger conch🔜