Aragonite with Crushed Coral

AJ_77 · #1 05-31-2004, 03:57 PM

Anyone ever used this stuff: Caribsea Florida Crushed Coral? I got a couple of 5gal buckets of LS recently that I plan to use in the new tank (108), and it seems to be this stuff, or something very similar.

Thing is, it has more crushed oyster shell than crushed coral, so the pieces are a little jagged, but mixed in with what appears to be aragonite "select" size sand - overall, nice stuff. I thought of spreading it thin over the bottom and topping it over with some other sand (but not where the LTA will live - that wil be straight sand). That way the jaggies will be mostly buried. Should I be concerned with these jaggy bits? I could sift them out, but need some input to help weigh the benefits.

Second Q: LS sitting in saltwater at room temp in buckets - bacteria being unusually resilient, I'm guessing by the sea smell (not even gross) that it's still in sufficient populations in there to make it ready for its next tour of duty. Would you use "as-is" and make use of the existing bacteria, getting the new tank off to a good cycle, or rinse it thoroughly and effectively sterilize it?

Delphinus · #2 05-31-2004, 04:47 PM

I kept sand from a system in a rubbermaid with a nomimal volume of water, a heater, and an air bubbler, and it seemed to keep for a few weeks like that when I was setting up my 75g.

When the tank had SW in it at temperature, I just dropped the sand in and let it settle. I didn't do anything special like rinse it or anything.

So I think it's fine without need to rinse it or sterilize it or anything like that.

Thus, my advice: Throw it in, and let it settle on its own (before putting in livestock). Maybe some live rock and stuff of course.

...

But the oyster shell .... I dunno. I know it's been used to make rock (Kim and Jonathan, notably), and I think it worked out OK, but .... I thought typically oyster shell was laced with phosphates. I think maybe it's OK in small quantities, but I'd be unsure about using it as a staple substrate. But that's just me ... I might be tempted to try it, but, I'd just be "unsure" about it. How's that for a wishy-washy opinion??

AJ_77 · #3 05-31-2004, 05:51 PM

That is a fine opinion and thanks for it, wishy-washyness aside...

I should reiterate that the substrate in question is mostly aragonite sand, with the coarser bits mixed in. It's a pretty homogenous mixture. But I could get a large strainer and go at it, if the consensus was that the shell pieces are more harm than good.

The other concern is the sharp edges to these bits. It's not painful to handle, but definitely has eggshell-like qualities. And as far as the increased buffering capabilities, is it really a concern with our notoriously hard water?

TANGOMAN · #4 05-31-2004, 06:33 PM

"Homogenous mixture". Now that's an impressive description...

. I'm using what appears to be a similar substrate in a few of my tanks and I'm happy with it. These two tanks are less than a year old though

. I am experiencing a "mild" cyano outbreak in one of the tanks but I haven't measured phosphates. There's too many other variables I would suspect but as I said, it's mild. I'd go with it, but I'm not a supporter of sand beds. I prefer the crushed coral substrate, it's worked for me.
I wouldn't "sterilize" the sand either. Provided the water isn't stagnant it should be fine, dump the water of course...

danny zubot · #5 05-31-2004, 07:13 PM

If I could add my opinion, my experience with using live sand that has been stored for any period of time is that it is safe biologically. Even the hermits that were in the sand survived for a period of about 5 days. That being said, I had one hell of a NO3 spike shortly after setting up my aquarium. I would recommend rinsing the sand prior to using it just to be on the safe side.