argonite sand in freshwater???

[patola_l]

i put aragonite sand in my 20 gal tank yesterday and am waiting for the water to clear. Im planning on making at a dwarf puffer tank after it cycles. Is there anything wrong with aragonite fine sand in a freshwater tank?

[HN1]

Nothing wrong at all with it. It will buffer your pH, GH, KH considerably higher. We have very soft water (~6.4) and use aragonite and "base rock" for our African tanks. The puffer shouldn't need that though. Are there other fish in the tank? What type?

[thincat]

Wouldn't the aragonite start to desolve with an acid Ph. 6.9 and lower? I think I answered my own question,,,,Dah

[JohnPaul]

I read on another forum (but can't guarantee the accuracy of it, so keep that in mind) that dwarf puffers in the wild come from water bodies with pH's from 7.5 to over 8.0. If that's the case, then aragonite sand would be a great substrate as it will buffer your water right up in that range.

[HN1]

Originally Posted by JohnPaul

I read on another forum (but can't guarantee the accuracy of it, so keep that in mind) that dwarf puffers in the wild come from water bodies with pH's from 7.5 to over 8.0. If that's the case, then aragonite sand would be a great substrate as it will buffer your water right up in that range.

They come from warm (~80), neutral (~7) waters.

[patola_l]

i have nothing in the tank yet, i thought id cycle it with some tetras though?

[JustOneMore20]

Please read up on fishless cycling and don't use tetras. They aren't compatible with Puffers anyhow.

Please read up on the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling.

[patola_l]

oh im planning on moving the tetras before i get puffers. Thanks though

[mfdrookie516]

I guess you dont realize what cycling with fish in the tank does to the fish? There are several links in my signature on cycling, I think JOM may have linked two of them already though. I suggest you do a search on this site for threads regarding cycling. There have been numerous flame wars, so I wont even start to give you my opinion of people who cycle with fish

[patola_l]

i have been keeping aquariums for over 40 years now, and i have always used fish to cycle. I understand that times have changed, but thats how i have done it in the past, and thats how im going to do it now. I respect all opinions though.

[HN1]

Originally Posted by patola_l

i have been keeping aquariums for over 40 years now, and i have always used fish to cycle. I understand that times have changed, but thats how i have done it in the past, and thats how im going to do it now. I respect all opinions though.

Mankind thought the world was flat far longer than that. Don't feel bad, many very respected men throughout the ages have chosen to believe in the fallacy of their own ways of doing things.

[thincat]

Since you have had 40 yrs keeping fish, woudn't it be fun to try a fishless cycing just so that you can compare. It would be great if you would cycle without fish and report back to us and see how the two compare.

[DragonFish71]

I'm so not gonna go there today. *Mutters*

[Crepe]

Suum cuique. I wouldn't cycle with tetras though, they would probably die before anything cycled due to the hard, alkaline water from the aragonite. If you do cycle with fish, use something that can tolerate hard water.

[patola_l]

oh alright.....im 2 days into my FISHLESS cycle. All is well, i kept the aragonite sand, and added driftwood in hope that wood would help counteract the aragonite raising the pH a bit. Thanks