Reptile calcium sand as alternative to crushed coral

[MrGibson]

Hey all. I just added some calcium carbonate reptile sand to my gambusia tank as I’m out of crushed coral and had this on hand. After looking into it I’m not finding much info on it in aquariums other than people saying “no don’t do it it’ll change your water chemistry” which is my goal, or “you absolutely can’t use it as a substrate but I’m not saying why.”  As far as I can tell this stuff should be nearly chemically identical to crushed coral, and should slowly dissolve and buffer the water in much the same fashion. For anyone have thoughts on this and why it shouldn’t work as I think? 
 

Thanks

[Tony s]

As long as it’s pure calcium carbonate and doesn’t have any additives, it should be just fine. There are several other sources of calcium carbonate, including wonder shell, crushed eggshells, cuttlebones, aragonite, crushed oystershell, and even chicken grit. They all do basically the same thing. Assuming there are no additives. Dissolve in water and raise your gh, kh, ph. This is a new one for me, but really shouldn’t be a problem. Again, assuming that there isn’t anything else in it.

On 8/23/2024 at 9:57 PM, MrGibson said:

After looking into it I’m not finding much info on it in aquariums other than people saying “no don’t do it it’ll change your water chemistry” which is my goal, or “you absolutely can’t use it as a substrate but I’m not saying why.

Yeah, a lot of this is an incorrect assumption that all aquarium water has to be soft water. 

At the very least, it makes for an interesting test run. Just watch your parameters and be prepared if it doesn’t work as we’re thinking. and have a backup plan

[MrGibson]

On 8/23/2024 at 11:07 PM, Tony s said:

As long as it’s pure calcium carbonate and doesn’t have any additives, it should be just fine. There are several other sources of calcium carbonate, including wonder shell, crushed eggshells, cuttlebones, aragonite, crushed oystershell, and even chicken grit. They all do basically the same thing. Assuming there are no additives. Dissolve in water and raise your gh, kh, ph. This is a new one for me, but really shouldn’t be a problem. Again, assuming that there isn’t anything else in it.

Yeah, a lot of this is an incorrect assumption that all aquarium water has to be soft water. 

That’s what I was thinking. I’d very much doubt there were any additives but that’s something I’d not considered. I’ll keep an eye on the tank and see if I see anything indicating contamination. What makes me doubt there are additives in that this stuff is sometimes advertised as being a calcium supplement for bearded dragons and such as they eat the substrate. The reality of that is that it can kill whatever is eating it due to impacting but that’s not related to aquariums. 
 

Appreciate the response and I’ll try to check back in a few months to post updates on how it went

[mynameisnobody]

You probably won’t find any info on this because as it may not adversely effect anything, it is also way more expensive than crushed coral. I say run the experiment and see what happens. 

[Odd Duck]

I truly despise it as a reptile substrate because of the high risk of obstructions, but I don’t know how it behaves in water.  I would be a bit worried about it compacting down and turning into a bit of concrete-like material.  I would check weekly to see if it’s showing any sign of compaction.  Let us know how it goes.

[MrGibson]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:51 AM, mynameisnobody said:

You probably won’t find any info on this because as it may not adversely effect anything, it is also way more expensive than crushed coral. I say run the experiment and see what happens. 

Yeah definitely more expensive but I had it on hand and needed the container it was in. Certainly won’t be a staple for me. 

 

On 8/24/2024 at 11:22 AM, Odd Duck said:

I truly despise it as a reptile substrate because of the high risk of obstructions, but I don’t know how it behaves in water.  I would be a bit worried about it compacting down and turning into a bit of concrete-like material.  I would check weekly to see if it’s showing any sign of compaction.  Let us know how it goes.

I agree. Absolutely atrocious as a reptile substrate. I was issuing it as a mix in for isopod substrate. Convenient way to supplement calcium for them but next time I’ll just use egg shells. Concretion is also something on my mind so I’ll definitely be checking.