Sand/Aragonite substrate....is it any good?

[Patwa]

I have a tank that is currently running with a sand/arogonite mix (about 3 parts sand to 1 part aragonite sand). The sand is basic play sand from Home Depot, and the aragonite sand is just leftovers from my saltwater setup (it's the expensive stuff from Big Al's). The tank is 65 gal, and the depth of the subtrate is probably just less than 1" total.

is this substrate mix safe for saltwater fish?? should I add more aragonite?? or is it OK??

My current plans are to add a couple dwarf lionfishes.or maybe 1 dwarf lionfish and 1 spiny puffer....but that's it........is this substrate OK for them?? should I add rocks?? (there are none in the tank currently).

I had originally planned to have a freshwater stingray in the tank, so that is why I had created a more sandy mixture.

Zach.

 

[reefrunner69]

Whether tt's safe or not will depend largely on what the play sand is, but more than likely it will be fine. Whether you need more or not, is a hotly debated topic, some advocate barebottom tanks and some a shallow sand bed and some a deep sandbed, I personally go for a shallow SB and a remote/Removable DSB. I would suggest lots of research on which method you want to use, both have their pros and cons.

I personally think any tank without base or liverock is unnatural for the fish, but there have been many successful set ups without it.

 

[Patwa]

I personally go for a shallow SB and a remote/Removable DSB.

Yeah I was thinking of just adding maybe about another 10 kg or so of aragonite just to give the base a more 'white' colour...right now it's more on the brown/tan side of things.

What is a "remote/removable deep sand bed" ?? how is it 'removable'?

thanks,

Zach.

 

[reefrunner69]

Ihave a sand bed in a seperate aquarium (refugium) that can be disconnected from the display aquarium and removed if DSB related issues arise.