Substrate?

alzika · 01/17/2007, 12:49 AM

My LFS told me to buy some aragalive a while back that is basically just really small shells. It has been in the tank for a while, but I'm starting to wonder if that is really what I should have bought.

Would sand be better? If so, what type of sand can I add to an aquarium that won't cause a cycle and kill my fish? Can I just add the sand on top of my current substrate or should I mix it?

bertoni · 01/17/2007, 12:55 AM

If the substrate looks okay to you, and it's not too much work to keep it clean, the tank is fine as is. I found that coarse substrates collected a lot of detritus, and I wasn't willing to siphon clean the substrate, so I ripped out my crushed coral and used fine sand instead.

01/17/2007, 12:49 AM	#1
alzika Moved On Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 367	Substrate? My LFS told me to buy some aragalive a while back that is basically just really small shells. It has been in the tank for a while, but I'm starting to wonder if that is really what I should have bought. Would sand be better? If so, what type of sand can I add to an aquarium that won't cause a cycle and kill my fish? Can I just add the sand on top of my current substrate or should I mix it?

01/17/2007, 12:55 AM	#2
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	If the substrate looks okay to you, and it's not too much work to keep it clean, the tank is fine as is. I found that coarse substrates collected a lot of detritus, and I wasn't willing to siphon clean the substrate, so I ripped out my crushed coral and used fine sand instead. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni