Why it's important to Soak your Aragonite Sand - UPDATE

[simplycoral]

So i am getting things ready for my upcoming tank transfer and thought i would share with everyone why i think it's important to soak your (DRY) Aragonite Sand for at least 7 days before placing it in the tank...

I know a lot of new hobbyists often just place the sand straight into the tank and most only rinse it over the once; but most of the commercial sand available has a very high concentration of Phosphate bound up in the particles which is released into the new environment not the best start, in our aquatic journey as this often contributes to unnecessary algae growth in the early stages.

I am adding this sand to an established environment where i try to maintain only trace elements of phosphates. Imagine what this level of phosphate would have done for my reef.

And for those that are interested in Silicates! i measured the first soak at 0.25ppm fairly low but not zero as the bag suggests....

Simon.


The Substrate



Into a clean Container



Add fresh R/O Water



Which has no trace of Phosphate.



And this is the end result! 0.5ppm of Phosphate