CaribSea Arag-Alive!™
CaribSea has seven carefully selected Live Sand products to help you create the
authentic aquatic environment of your choice. Arag-Alive!™ natural
aragonite substrates are engineered for different performance characteristics,
and each with it’s own unique look. All Arag-Alive!™ products help
maintain the pH of natural seawater.
Only CaribSea’s Arag-Alive!™ Live Sands contains not just the broad
spectrum of natural marine bacteria found in the ocean, but additional specially
selected strains of marine bacteria as well. Arag-Alive!™ compresses new
tank cycle time and suppresses the initial ammonia spike. Arag-Alive!™
creates a natural biological balance, and makes cycling a new aquarium faster
and safer. Live rocks and most invertebrates can be added immediately. Gradually
introduce fish within the first 3 weeks, and do not exceed one inch of fish per
5 gallons during this time.
How Does Arag-Alive Work?
Arag-Alive!™
achieves rapid cycling by preparing and seeding the substrate 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 bacterial biomass during rapid growth. Since most species of
bacteria are somewhat symbiotic, and tend to colonize a surface in succession,
the process of “cycling” an 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™ freshwater products work in the same way, just with freshwater
bacteria.
Fiji Pink - This soft pink colored, 100% aragonite substrate is a good
intermediate sand size product. The precise 0.5 - 1.5mm grain size combines some
of the animal friendly properties of fine sand such as ingestability and low
resistance to burrowing, but with better diffusive flux properties and good
porosity. This is also the standard choice for reef aquariums at 1 pound per
gallon.
Note: This is not a large pink based sand, it has
small bits and pieces which are pink that make it considered a fiji "pink" sand
according to the natives.
