FOWLR substrate Q's

I recently purchased a 125G FOWLR setup from a friend...it is sitting empty in my basement. I also plan to use it as a FOWLR.

The substrate appears to be crushed coral, from 3/16" down to dust, with sand mixed in with it. My friend says he remembers it was 3 bags of "live sand" and 1 of crushed coral.

My friend says it worked great for him for years...but... ???

-use it as is?

-rinse it somehow to get rid of the fines?

-screen out larger pieces or coral (if possible)?

-Other thoughts?

Thanks, Don

Reefscape said:

I would replace it with a fresh sanbed of aragonite....

Click to expand...

Welll.. I HAD considered that. Then I would know "fer shure" what I'm dealing with, and it would be much cleaner too.

but...I'm trying to keep this cheap-ish...may have to see how much 4 bags of aragonite is.

hmm...I need a Sand FAQ...