Plecos and Aragonite Sand?

K

koldsoup

AC Members
Jan 12, 2010
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16
Brooklyn, New York
Real Name
Kevin
I'm keeping a few LF albino bristlenose plecos with brigs. The plecos have been doing great so far but the snails aren't faring as well. Some of their shells aren't looking as great as when I first got them. I was planning on adding crushed coral to the filter to harden and raise the pH of the water, as lots of people have suggested this for healthy shells. I went to Petco today to look for crushed coral substrate but could only find aragonite sand as marine substrate. I've done a little research but couldn't find much about plecos and aragonite sand.

Does anyone have any experience with aragonite sand? Is it safe for freshwater use? Would bristlenose plecos be able to tolerate the pH and hardness from the aragonite? Thanks.


-I also have a few otos in there, but I heard that they can tolerate a large pH range. True...?
 
Rather than mess with water chemistry, especially when all are doing great except snail from your perspective, why not just add cal block/equivalents which wont dissolve readily? Monitor the water condition when such are added as it can change water chemistry to bring discomfort/losses to your livestocks..

You maybe trying fix one small thing and may cause unnecessary harms to others.

If you are in Brooklyn near beach (Coney Island?), you should be able to find sea shells easily. Sterilized them by boiling.
You could even crushed them to small bits and use netted bag so you can use them in the filter on needed basis.

Hope all goes well!

btw, if too difficult get sea shells, contact Manhattan Reef forum. You should be able to find someone in your location who can donate dead coral skeleton which can be crushed to serve your need as well.
 
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Feeding calcium rich snello (snail jello, recipes in the sticky at the top of the Inverts forum) is just as effective, if not more so, than messing with your water parameters.
 
I have been feeding snello with crushed calcium pills from the stickies and also Ken's veggie sticks with calcium but still have problems. I haven't tested my water for pH or hardness as I don't have any kits so I concluded that my water may be too acidic or soft. That's why I wanted to harden it a bit. I guess I should pick up a pH kit first.
 
By the way, thanks for the responses.

After thinking about it, I realized that you guys are right; messing with the water chemistry isn't such a good idea. Would've been a huge mistake had things gone bad...
 
I keep a piece of dead coral and a piece of cuttlebone in my snail tanks. Seems to help. I also limit my plants. I also feed with Ken's calcium enriched sticks.
 
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