why rinse crushed coral

[HelplessNewbie]

I just got my 1 lb bag of crushed coral from ACO. Why rinse it? Wouldn't I just be washing away precious material, for which I paid good money?

My tap water is 6.4 and very soft. Normally, I would add calcium carbonate powder. By not rinsing, wouldn't I just be substituting the powder from the coral for the calcium carbonate?

[Maximus]

If you don't rinse it, it can cloud up your water for a while. I'm not sure the recommendation is there for anything beyond that.

[Maximus]

The powder might also swing the parameters faster (haven't actually tested this), and that wouldn't be great for adding to an existing tank. I didn't rinse it when I added it to this newest uninhabited 10 gallon I set up, and it's cleared up in a day.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Maximus

[HelplessNewbie]

I decided to skip rinsing. I tested the water beforehand. Will check it again tomorrow.

[Guppysnail]

One reason for rinsing CC, gravel, sand. It very likely comes into contact with dust, sprays etc from factories that are not aquarium safe. Some are marketed no rinse and those are made/ handled in a manor that nothing could potentially contaminate them. 

[Huckleberry]

I use a handful at a time here and there and I never rinse it. If I use it for the entire substrate then I'd probably rinse it. 

[TheBlueBeetle]

As others have said, you don't really have to rinse. The stuff is just really dusty typically. Rinsing prevents the initial clouding and also removes any other potential loose contaminates. You're not really wasting anything by doing it, the primary benefit of crushed coral is realized by its slowly dissolving over time to safely reach the parameters you're trying to achieve. The big cloud of dust just gets sucked into your filter to possibly clog biological media and get into your impeller. All that being said, do what ya like!