Recommendations for Substrate

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aquafreak

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Messages
243
Location
Tucson, AZ
How would you layer your substrate for a FO aquarium?

I thought of a course grain Aragonite followed by a fine Aragonite. Is this good?

Thanks!
 
That would work, but why now the entire layer of fine aragonite sand? Better for the critters that will live in it.
 
The best way is to mix it in a container like a new garbage can or buckets. Run a PH in it for 24hrs to allow it to airate and then add.
Once you have animals in the tank, also would be good to match the temp and the ph, depending on the volume of water in the system and the amount being added.
 
Excellent :) I'm looking for a good 'white' Carribean Aragonite. I've found some at marinedepot.com. Would you recommend an alternate source? It's not cheap to buy. Later on I'll use live rock to cultivate it.
 
I have two tanks running - my 30 gallon and my daughters 10. In the 30 I have crushed coral substrate - absolutely no problems. In the 10 I had carbonate sand - huge cyano problem. Have started to remove majority of sand and replace wth crushed coral . Problem is clearing up.

We used live sand in the 10 - cyano surely came in with that.
 
I have Old Castle/south down play sand in my 55 fowlr and in both refugiums and it is a nice cheap sand... It is also white. IMO CC will trap waste and require you to vacuume the CC and can cause nitrates to get high, too much work for me.
It all depends on what look you going for.
 
I got 30 lb bags of sugar-fine Caribsea for $17.99 online. Even with $4.50 a bag extra shipping, it was still cheaper than local ($.99/lb). Where did I find this, you might be asking? Well, I wish I could remember. I just did a search and can't find it. But I got that price only a few weeks ago, so it's out there somewhere! Sorry I can't remember where. :(
 
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