hard aragonite

[rlutman]

About 2 years ago I set up my tank as an NNR using Carib Sea aragonite with a one inch plenum. I recently removed all the rock which was covered with several types of macro algae, including the dreaded bubble algae. I was going to discard it and replace with new but decided to just try scrubbing it by hand. What a job. My question is. The aragonite is no longer sand, it turned into concrete. In many areas it is sold. I tried breaking it up with a knife, no easy task. What went wrong here and how can I keep it from happening again ?

Thanks, Dick Lutman

[LiquidShaneo]

Here's the thread that was generated when I asked the same question, Dick:

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23549 (http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23549)

hth

liquid

[rlutman]

WOW
I guess nobody really knows what causes this. I did everything they talked about, dripped KW and added buffers on a regular basis.

[rshimek]

Hi,

Likely the major problem was an insufficent fauna of sand dwelling critters such as worms and bugs. With a good population of these organisms, the sand is continually disturbed and won't clump.

:D