CaribSea Super Naturals vs CaribSea Aragonite

[maltescooter]

Hey all! First-time shrimp bubble liberator here. I looked all around the forum for some specifics on sand and I'd so appreciate your help. I'm gathering supplies to upgrade my four Opae Ula currently contained in a shrimp bubble into a two-gallon Opae Ula Self-Sustaining Jarrarium using Mustafa's steps.

SAND
I'm currently looking to buy a white/beachy vibe substrate and I'm confused about what the name brands for inert/dead sand are. I haven't seen inert/dead sand on any labels, so is that type just anything not labeled "live sand" or "alive sand"? (I know live sand has organisms in it etc., not good for our self-sustaining jars).

For inert sand -- I hear a lot of answers saying to use Super Naturals and Aragonite sand. There are 10+ Super Naturals sand types, are they all the same inert sand makeup - but just in different colors? And is Aragonite inert by any brand or just by the brand CaribSea?

I'd buy straight from Mustafa to make it easier but they sell the darker sands here to make the shrimp colors pop which is totally cool but for this jar I'd like to have white/tan colors. So I'm currently looking at these:

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostor ... bs-2153545

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostor ... bs-2153529

CAVE/ROCKS
Aside from sand, my other question at this point is if these rocks are OK for the self-sustaining setup:

Reef Saver Aquarium Dry Live Rock - MarcoRocks
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-reef ... -rock.html

JAR
and this is my jar!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6cmc3jes2yen5 ... 9.jpg?dl=0

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes ... /879951751


Thanks for all your help!

[Super Jess]

Congratulations! Actually, it looks like the jar you linked has a volume of about 3.5 US gallons, which will make a nice home for your shrimp.

For sand/substrate, both of the options you linked would work. Aragonite is essentially crushed calcium carbonate, and both are inert unless labeled "live" or "active" etc. Aragonite is handy because it serves the dual purpose of substrate and calcium buffer to keep the water's pH in the target zone. Whatever you choose for substrate, it's a good idea to wash it first to reduce the amount of dusty particles that wind up in your tank water.

The rocks you linked are interesting. Live rock is a no-no, but this stuff labeled "dry live rock" is apparently "real reef rock . . . from a land-based dead coral reef that is quarried in the US, so there is no impact to the ocean reef rock, and it's also significantly lower in residual organic material" as answered in the product questions. It does sound pretty inert, but I'm unclear if the company is labeling it "live" for marketing purposes or if there is actually likely to be some kind of organic stuff in it that is intended to be rehydrated once it's in the tank. If it was me, I'd probably skip the risk and just use some lava rock or sanitized aquarium coral.

Like you, I prefer light, beachy colors in my tanks and use small sized aragonite as my substrate. The snails move through it easily, and it's easy to tell when surface algae starts to grow. Good luck, and have fun setting up your tank!

[maltescooter]

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[maltescooter]

Congratulations! Actually, it looks like the jar you linked has a volume of about 3.5 US gallons, which will make a nice home for your shrimp.

For sand/substrate, both of the options you linked would work. Aragonite is essentially crushed calcium carbonate, and both are inert unless labeled "live" or "active" etc. Aragonite is handy because it serves the dual purpose of substrate and calcium buffer to keep the water's pH in the target zone. Whatever you choose for substrate, it's a good idea to wash it first to reduce the amount of dusty particles that wind up in your tank water.

The rocks you linked are interesting. Live rock is a no-no, but this stuff labeled "dry live rock" is apparently "real reef rock . . . from a land-based dead coral reef that is quarried in the US, so there is no impact to the ocean reef rock, and it's also significantly lower in residual organic material" as answered in the product questions. It does sound pretty inert, but I'm unclear if the company is labeling it "live" for marketing purposes or if there is actually likely to be some kind of organic stuff in it that is intended to be rehydrated once it's in the tank. If it was me, I'd probably skip the risk and just us some lava rock or sanitized aquarium coral.

Like you, I prefer light, beachy colors in my tanks and use small sized aragonite as my substrate. The snails move through it easily, and it's easy to tell when surface algae starts to grow. Good luck, and have fun setting up your tank!

Hey SuperJess -

Thanks for taking a look at my questions and providing thoughtful answers! I'm pretty excited about the jar. I bought a few contenders and the size of the linked one is generous and wide so I figure I might as well just try it. I'd been searching for its total volume but settled on that the figure must be expertly hidden on the website haha - so I guessed at 2 gallons when comparing it to the other 1 gallon jars. So as you might imagine, I was so glad to see your 3.6 gallons figure! Did you do a volume math thing using the dimensions? Or are you a super sleuth and spotted where they were hiding it on the website listing?

I'll shoot the MacroRocks folks an email about why they put "live" in the title while still claiming it's"100% free of nuisance algae and ... apitasia, bubble algae, parasitic isopods, mantis shrimp, acro-eating flatworms, little red bugs, fire worms, predatory nudibranchs, pyramidellid snails and other common pests." (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-reef ... -rock.html)

I found MacroRocks when I Googled "Calcium Carbonate" and found that MacroRocks is made of "100% natural Calcium Carbonate". This other site calls MacroRocks a "porous limestone product." (https://www.ss9.sg/collections/macro-rocks-1)

So anyway, IDK. If the MacroRock is at all questionable after I see what they say I'm happy to use lava rock or even an artificial aquarium-safe rock just for its hiding places and places for algae to collect. The go with petshrimp.com's shop supplies (Supershrimp Macroalgae, Supershrimp Calcium Carbonate Pebbles), plus one of those sands from the last post.

Two more quick questions for fellow night owls:

Can I have too much Calcium Carbonate in a tank?

How does this board feel about artificial plants? Are they going to leech chemical stuff into the jar's water? Is silk better or is that just a beta fin thing? (I'm not having bettas).

[Super Jess]

I did math to calculate the volume of a 10"x10"cylinder and ignored the neck part of the jar

Calcium carbonate will dissolve at the rate it is needed to buffer, so you can't have too much. If you particularly like the look of the MacroRock product you could fill a big pot with cold water, add the rock, and bring it to a rolling boil for 15 minutes. Then take it off the heat and let the full pot cool to room temp before rinsing the rock with distilled water and adding to your jar.

All artificial plants sold for aquarium use are generally safe and are really the best bet for planty decor since live plants will break down in these conditions, quickly or slowly, and foul the water. I might stick with plastic over silk since they will likely get covered with algae and will be easier to scrub if you wanted to keep them clean. In my experience, though, these shrimp tanks work best and are most stable if you set them up and don't touch except to top off the water and feed occasionally.

If you're feeling flush you could add a couple mossballs from this site--I've had one going since 2016 and it occasionally makes tiny babies. The shrimp slowly roll them around the tanks, which is fun.

Last advice: keep your substrate under 1" and add some snails from this site when you set up your tank. They'll help keep things balanced.

[maltescooter]

I knew it! You're a math whiz

Good to know about the calcium carbonate levels and the artificial aquarium plants. I'm buying my stuff tonight and will style it all up and cycle the tank and take some pics to show here. One last question for now - why keep the substrate under 1"? Any particulars about it, or is it just safer for shrimps that way?

I did math to calculate the volume of a 10"x10"cylinder and ignored the neck part of the jar

Calcium carbonate will dissolve at the rate it is needed to buffer, so you can't have too much. If you particularly like the look of the MacroRock product you could fill a big pot with cold water, add the rock, and bring it to a rolling boil for 15 minutes. Then take it off the heat and let the full pot cool to room temp before rinsing the rock with distilled water and adding to your jar.

All artificial plants sold for aquarium use are generally safe and are really the best bet for planty decor since live plants will break down in these conditions, quickly or slowly, and foul the water. I might stick with plastic over silk since they will likely get covered with algae and will be easier to scrub if you wanted to keep them clean. In my experience, though, these shrimp tanks work best and are most stable if you set them up and don't touch except to top off the water and feed occasionally.

If you're feeling flush you could add a couple mossballs from this site--I've had one going since 2016 and it occasionally makes tiny babies. The shrimp slowly roll them around the tanks, which is fun.

Last advice: keep your substrate under 1" and add some snails from this site when you set up your tank. They'll help keep things balanced.

[Super Jess]

If your substrate is too deep the snails won't be able to move through all of it to keep things tidy, which can lead to it harboring some nasty stuff instead of just good bacteria. 1" is good, maybe up to 2".