Aragonite dsb

[BLUElobster99]

Can I do a deep sand bed using aragonite? It's a lot more coarse than most sand. It's my understanding that there needs to be some live sand to seed the dsb. Would 40lbs of aragonite and 10lbs of caribsea live sand work? It's a 20g tank so I think that's enough sand to get at least four inches.

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[mr_X]

No live sand is necessary. You can do a dsb with all dry substrate. The goal is low oxygen zones for anaerobic bacteria to reside. This is easy enough with a 4" sand bed.

[Gregcoyote]

I agree.


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[Rockster2]

Coarse aragonite used to be the norm about 20 years ago. You rarely see it in reef tanks these days as its coarse nature invites nitrates. Also, If you plan to have wrasses most won't like a course sand bed.


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[mr_X]

I don't think he was referring to crushed coral.