Reef Substrate

[SankTank]

Ive read many things about how sand or crushed coral or a mixture of the 2 can have an adverse affect on pH and nitrate levels. I have also noticed people using aragonite, what would be a good substrate to use to produce near-stagnant levels?

[unleashed]

Oolitic aragonite would be best

But you would need a sand bed of about 4-6 inches deep minimum to produce a stagnant environment

[AABatteries]

I have about 1/2" of sand on top of 1 1/2" of crushed coral. I need the crushed coral for its pH buffering.

[SankTank]

will probably use the aragonite or 25%sand/75%crushed coral because i would like some sand dwellers, would i get any of those with the aragonite?

[unleashed]

will probably use the aragonite or 25%sand/75%crushed coral because i would like some sand dwellers, would i get any of those with the aragonite?

I would stay away from CC. It is not really that good.

The organisms which you want in your sand bed are copepods and worms basically.

Because many of the organisms are small, they struggle to move through the CC and in turn, it doesn't get stirred.

Oolitic aragonite on the other hand is very very fine and is very easy for the copepods etc to move through.

You will also find that you will have greater colonies of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria with oolitic aragonite than with CC due to the greater surface area of the granules

[jman]

good job at realizing a good ratio of aragonite you dont want too much if you have sand dwellers...you get the point just enough for buff and a simple trick is to add some more to the bottom of the filter i always end up getting a lot of copepods out of it and they have offspring that eventually fall in the tank i guess which is good

just dont use too much crushed coral if u use it at all

[SankTank]

I would stay away from CC. It is not really that good.

The organisms which you want in your sand bed are copepods and worms basically.

Because many of the organisms are small, they struggle to move through the CC and in turn, it doesn't get stirred.

Oolitic aragonite on the other hand is very very fine and is very easy for the copepods etc to move through.

You will also find that you will have greater colonies of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria with oolitic aragonite than with CC due to the greater surface area of the granules

thanks, im sure this oolitic aragonite is more expensive than the sand/cc mix, but it sounds like its worth it. i havent had a chance to go to a lfs in my area yet. Do they usally sell that type of aragonite at stores? I live in tampa, Im sure we have some good places here.

[jman]

normally sold at most lfs stores if not order it if thats what ya want

[SankTank]

I think im getting conflicting answers here, one says the oolitic aragonite is easy for copepods to sift through and the other says that i do not want too much aragonite...

good job at realizing a good ratio of aragonite you dont want too much if you have sand dwellers...you get the point just enough for buff and a simple trick is to add some more to the bottom of the filter i always end up getting a lot of copepods out of it and they have offspring that eventually fall in the tank i guess which is good

just dont use too much crushed coral if u use it at all

are you saying a ratio between sand and aragonite?

[jman]

i meant too much crushed coral oops sorry aragonite is success for copepods