SUBSTRATES

What is Aragonite?

Aragonite is a naturally occurring calcium bearing mineral. It is precipitated in areas where cold ocean water, saturated with calcium and carbonate, comes in contact with warm shallow waters. It is also formed by sea creatures like corals, shells and coralline algaes that use aragonite to build their skeletons. These materials can accumulate on the ocean floor over eons, forming thick deposits of pure aragonite in areas far from living reef communities; an ideal low environmental impact situation.

Why Aragonite?

So what makes aragonite the perfect marine substrate? When the pH in your aquarium falls below 8.2 (the pH of natural seawater), aragonite begins to dissolve releasing calcium (great for growing coral and for water hardness), carbonate (your buffer), and beneficial trace elements like strontium and magnesium. Your pH comes back up, and the tank stays healthy, without ever adding a single chemical. Other types of calcium carbonate don't react until the pH is in the mid 7's, which is lethal for many forms of marine life. In fact, aragonite holds the highest pH of any gravel or sand, and has up to 30 times the buffering capacity of dolomite, calcite (so called "crushed corals"), or oyster shell! Now that we know a little bit about aragonite's chemical performance, let's examine how it helps your biological filtration. Biogenic aragonite is extremely porous, about 20,000 square inches of surface area per cubic inch! Imagine the beneficial bacteria population you can maintain. This is why aragonite is unsurpassed in reducing nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia; allowing a bio-load many times greater than other substrates. Plus, unlike ordinary substrates, aragonite never needs replacement to maintain effectiveness. The performance goes on and on. CaribSea aragonite really is a remarkable piece of equipment; it's a calcium reactor, a buffer that works when you need it, a trace element additive, a nitrite and nitrate filter, an ammonia reducer, a high capacity bio-filter, and oh yes, a spectacular addition to any marine aquarium!

How does your live substrates work?

CaribSea's Arag-Alive!^TM achieves rapid cycling by preparing and seeding the substrates grain surfaces with a wide variety of marine bacteria, most in a spored state, including strains engineered for maximum waste reduction capacity. Some types of bacteria reduce nitrogenous waste by metabolic oxidation while others incorporate nitrogen into bacteria biomass during rapid growth. Since most species of bacteria are somewhat symbiotic, and tend to colonize a surface in succession, the process of "cycling" am aquarium is facilitated by the close proximity of the immobilized species. Bacteria are maintained at a low metabolic rate by restricting access to certain limiting factors required for metabolism. The Eco-Complete^TM freshwater products work in the same way, just with freshwater bacteria.

For more product information, please visit www.caribsea.com

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