Fish Tanks

The gravel in a salt water fish tank is not the same as the gravel in a standard freshwater tank. Gravel in a salt water fish tank is called aragonite and it does some pretty special things.Aragonite is used as gravel in saltwater aquariums for a variety of reasons. For one it is bright white so it will help to show off the colors of the saltwater fish much better.This special marine aquarium gravel will also help you stabilize the PH in your tank. Aragonite starts to dissolve at a PH below 7.8. When it dissolves it releases minerals that help to bring the PH back up over 8.0 which is great for your fish.It does this 24/7 with out ever taking a break or missing a beat.

 

It also is believed to release some much needed trace elements into the water when it dissolves and these are believed to improve marine fish and invertebrate health in your tank.Aragonite comes in a variety of sizes that range from very coarse all the way down to sugar fine sand. While it comes down to personal preference what one is the best most experts agree that you should stick to medium size grains for your saltwater tank.

The large grains can trap dirt, marine fish waste and uneaten food in places where it can decompose and add t algae problems. The very fine sugar sand blows around very easily.If you have strong currents in your saltwater tank you may have a hard time keeping it from all blowing into one corner, this gets annoying over time.