[scatowner]

I am wondering if anyone knows if using brand new Aragonite sand in a new tank produces a big ammonia spike? I am using new Aragonite to replace old coral sand and I am wondering if this will significantly change the water composition as well as first time ammonia spikes.

[Ninong]

Hi scatowner,




"Using brand new Aragonite sand in a new tank" does not produce ammonia or any other form of nitrogen. On the other hand, it does take time for the new sand to acquire an adequate population of denitrifying bacteria to assist in the reduction of nitrogen produced by both live and not-so-live animals in the aquarium.

If you are transferring live rock and livestock to "a new tank" and you are setting it up "using brand new Aragonite sand," you shouldn't have any problems.

You didn't actually say what you're doing here. All we know is that you're using new aragonite to replace old coral sand but we don't know anything else. What's going into this new tank? Is it coming out of an old tank? You didn't say if there is any live rock involved???

[scatowner]

Hi Ninong,

Thank you for the welcome here and thank you for the answers
What I am doing is rather painfully simple. I have a pet green Scat which I have kept for around 10 years.. She is a sweetheart. I have purchased a new 75 gallon tank for her and am going to set it up.
I have thrown out all the old crushed coral sand substrate and have purchased new Aragonite sand to put in it's place.
I use an external power filter with biowheels which holds all my good bacteria so even though I am sure it happens, I do not rely on the substrate for nitrifying bacteria. I have her in a much smaller tank presently and want to transfer her as soon as I can because she does not like her lack of space.
Once I clean the inside of the tank, rinse and drop the Aragonite sand into it, add RO and sea salt, use my under water heaters to correct the water temperture, add my aqua-scape, then I want to transfer my power filter over and immediately bring her in. I have no corals or live rock and this is a brackish tank more or less with one chubby sweetheart swimming around.
I was wondering if I will need to deal with a big Ammonia spike follow by the nitrite spike that new crushed coral sand will produce. If so, I did not know how intense these spikes will be and didn't want to drop her into that situation.
From what it sounds like, I will not encounter these spikes. My Bacteria colonies are firmly established and will be fully functional from day 1.
Is there any other water compositional changes that may effect her?
She has lived in brackish RO with crushed coral sand and will have the same in everything except now Aragonite sand instead.

[scatowner]

Oh..and...She likes me to gently grab her underwater, pet her tall sloping forehead and hand feed her as well. I'll give her what I call the "scissor hold"
(my own invention) which I do along her long meaty forehead and shake her a little side to side.
When I let her go, she'll swim in a little circle and back to my hand for some more! So she is very loved and care about.

[Ninong]

Since your biowheel filter is already biologically active, I see no reason to be concerned. The new sand does not in and of itself produce any nitrogen in any of its forms. It is the nitrogen (ammonia) that is excreted by living animals (or decaying organic matter) that produces ammonia spikes, etc.

I don't think you will have any problem at all with this move but if you are concerned, you could boost the bacterial population of the new aragonite sand bed before moving the scat into the tank. One way to do this would be to throw a couple of supermarket shrimp or a piece of fish onto the sand bed and allow that to decay for a few days. If you put the shrimp (or piece of fish) in a mesh bag (or old stocking), you can easily remove the resulting detritus a few days later. I really think you will be fine without bothering with this. The brand new aragonite sand will begin to acquire beneficial bacteria as soon as any nitrogen (ammonia, etc.) is present in the system.

Good luck!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by scatowner

Oh..and...She likes me to gently grab her underwater, pet her tall sloping forehead and hand feed her as well. I'll give her what I call the "scissor hold"
(my own invention) which I do along her long meaty forehead and shake her a little side to side.
When I let her go, she'll swim in a little circle and back to my hand for some more! So she is very loved and care about.

Is this a silver scat or a green scat? How big is she?

[Ninong]

Here is what Bob Fenner recommends on scats.

[scatowner]

Thank you for such a detailed and specific confirmation on the Aragonite Sand. I am glad to hear this. Thank you for the link too. I just read it.
I can tell you know a lot about fish keeping.
She is probably not as big as you may think being around 10 years old. I bought her when she was about the size of a silver dollar (about as thin as one too) with big cute eyes sticking out in the front wiggling her face back and forth behind the glass.
She is a green Scat approx. 7 inches long and maybe 5.5 to 6 inches tall, top to bottom and approx. just a hair over 2 inches thick. Her dorsal spines are jet black and atleast 4 to 4.5 inches high. I do not know how much she weighs..I haven't tried that yet..lol
I am glad to read they may live just past 20 years in captivity too.