Aragonite Sand - For Freshwater?!

[M|L]

I bought a bag of marine aragonite sand.

I dumped about a pound of that stuff in my tank.

Does it matter how much I put in my tank or the more I put in my tank, the higher the pH and the harder the water?

How does it work?

-Ming

 

[guppy]

I have never used it but with crushed baked oyster shell that is the way it works.

 

[M|L]

I want to know if it matters how much aragonite sand I dump in my tank. I don't my water chemistry to take a 360 degree turn and kill all my fish.

I only want to raise the pH a little higher, and I want to know how much of the sand I should put in there.

 

[Ornatapinnis]

Aragonite is much more water soluable than calcite (shells, crushed coral, dolomite, etc.)

I have several african cichlid aquariums with all aragonite substrate, I love it. Looks nice and helps keep the water very hard and a ph around 8.3 or so.

I don't think there is a sound answer to the question, "how much aragonite does it take to achieve a ph of (insert your desired ph) and a harness value of (insert your desired value). Way to many variables to have a good answer.

Some info that would help is,

How many gallon aquarium do you have?

What was the ph and harness values before you added the aragonite?

What is the ph and hardness value of your tap water?

What is your desired Ph and hardness values?

Even with this info, I don't think you can get a solid answer but it would be helpfull in getting a better answer. Reply with these answers and we'll see what we can figure out.

Joel

 

[Oddball]

Aragonite is much more water soluable than calcite (shells, crushed coral, dolomite, etc.)

I have several african cichlid aquariums with all aragonite substrate, I love it. Looks nice and helps keep the water very hard and a ph around 8.3 or so.

I don't think there is a sound answer to the question, "how much aragonite does it take to achieve a ph of (insert your desired ph) and a harness value of (insert your desired value). Way to many variables to have a good answer.

Some info that would help is,

How many gallon aquarium do you have?

What was the ph and harness values before you added the aragonite?

What is the ph and hardness value of your tap water?

What is your desired Ph and hardness values?

Even with this info, I don't think you can get a solid answer but it would be helpfull in getting a better answer. Reply with these answers and we'll see what we can figure out.

Joel

I echo Ornatapinnis statement that there's no foolproof method to measure the amount of aragonite needed for a system. The amount of calcium carbonate varies by the type of aragonite contained in your source. Aragonite not only dissolves and reforms in water, it is also used by many organisms internally. A closed system, such as an aquarium, can go for a couple of years with a steady pH level provided by aragonite and then start to drop rapidly. The fix for this is to discard the old aragonite and recharge the system with a fresh aragonite substrate. Not all substrates can be ignored like pea gravel.

 

[M|L]

I searched around and it's a little more complicated than I thought.

So when the sand dissolves into the water, does that mean the sand will probably disappear?

I guess I'll have to play it safe and add just a little.

 

[Oddball]

The aragonite won't fully disappear. The calcium chloride from aragonite will saturate the water but, some of its structure will realign at the crystalline level to form calcite. The speed that the calcium chloride is "used up" depends on:
-number/frequency of water changes.
-scale structures on different fish.
-inverts in the tank (used in mantel development in bivalves and gastropods)
-source the aragonite comes from.

Water testing is the key to follow.