gelo360 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I've got a ton of base rock that use to be LR that I want to use in my new 20 and 10 gal setup. It's been dry for a few years in storage. Is it possible to use this rock if I seeded it with a piece of cured LR from the LFS in each tank? Also, I'm having trouble deciding on which grade of aragonite I should use for my sandbed. I've seen the very find grade and also the courser grades. Would it be better to go with the Agra-live or some similar brand of live sand? If you guys could provide any insight or share your experiences with each type, it would be appreciated. Link to comment
veshman Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Dry LR can definitely be used (it will go through the cycle regardless of whether you seed it though). Seeding is good for diversity though... As for the live sand, I'm pretty satisfied with the arag-live (bagged) live sand from my LFS. It's heavy enough to stay put even w/ some strong flow, but fine enough to not bother borrowing fish (or so I've heard). Link to comment
aaron1987 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Your sand bed will seed just fine without buying live, I wouldn't bother. Unless it's a DSB the aerobic bacteria will spread from the LR to the sand and if it's a DSB, live sand has no anaerobic bacteria anyway. Link to comment
gelo360 Posted December 28, 2008 Author Share Posted December 28, 2008 Thanks for the input. I plan on having a 1"-1.5" deep sandbed. I didn't see the use in paying the premium for the arag-live sand if I had a few pieces of LR, unless there is some benefit that you guys can suggest that I'm missing. Will the finer grade of aragonite stay put under a stronger flow rate? Link to comment
smedge Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 pretty sure the anaerobes in question are facultative and not obligate so live sand would contain them. Link to comment
aaron1987 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Thanks for the input. I plan on having a 1"-1.5" deep sandbed. I didn't see the use in paying the premium for the arag-live sand if I had a few pieces of LR, unless there is some benefit that you guys can suggest that I'm missing. Will the finer grade of aragonite stay put under a stronger flow rate? Depends how much flow and how it's hitting the sand bed, there's not really a good answer. Link to comment
gelo360 Posted December 28, 2008 Author Share Posted December 28, 2008 I think the fine grain size looks more natural. I'll have to play around with the power head placement to position it for the least amount of sandbed disturbance. I think between the 20 and 10gal I'll need approx 40 lbs. Here are pics of the base rock I plan on using for each tank. Is this too much? How much LR should I get to seed both tanks? A guy at the LFS told me I wouldn't be able to use the rock as LR even if I seeded it with a cured piece from thier tanks. He said that once it's dead it's dead and would never be LR again. I didn't think that made much sense... 20 gal 10 gal Link to comment
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