Do Different Substrates = different water chemistry parameters?

WizardOfAAAHHHs

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Hi Gang! I'm building a multi-tank system that will be plumbed to a central "FILTH-tration" ( I like to have FUN with words! ) system in a DIY "TOTER 96 " = 96 gallon trash bin on my main floor + a 45 gallon "JUNIOR FILTH-trator" in my basement - to avoid going up & down those steep steps as a Disabled old man with bad knees ! My tanks *SO FAR* are an acrylic 45 in my living room that will be water bridged through the wall to my home office 75 gal. tank! Then I have a Glass 75 that I'm going to build into a wall I built in renovations that's still unfinished & the room it creates in now my "FILTH-tration" room! LOL! It's great that I can arrange my tanks where everything is pretty centralized. Then there's the 65 gal tank in the 60" wide entryway to my bedroom from the Living room / Aquarium room. There's ample space left to walk through comfortably & even a walker fits through it. ( I DON'T usually NEED it! ) . That plumbing goes east along the wall to the "FILTRATION " room. The stairs to the 2nd floor are adjacent to where that tank will be. So the wall in the living room adjacent to the stairs is home to my 120 gal. Mixed reef tank ( still dry ) - that's the NORTH wall of the living room. On the SOUTH wall - 8 ft. east of the west front wall of the house will be a 66" L x 45" H x 18" W - 230 gal SUPER HIGH BOY tank that I'm really excited to get! I realize the challenges involved in that depth, so let's move on - I'm going to DAISY CHAIN - WATER BRIDGE that SUPER TANK to my 150 gal tank that'll be on the south wall & I'm looking for another large tank to install on the west wall to add to the chain . My desire is to create a super -tank that provides immense swimming room for my fishes so that I can *experiment* with Andrew Sandler's methods of keeping fish with corals! We'll leave those comments for another thread, please! What I'm interested in know / exploring is - are there DIFFERING substrates - beyond aesthetics - in various substrates the would effect water chemistry according to their composition? Say for example - one from one part of the world is more strongly Strontium than another, or one from maybe Australia ( I'm trying to find COARSE Australian Gold if anyone knows where I can get it - BTW ) is perhaps stronger in Calcium than another one. My idea being - If I MIX IT UP< put one type / color in ONE tank & something ELSE in another one - GREY COAST for example - which I LIKE & DO plan to buy some of - in another, reaching for making the entire system stronger as a whole unit by that mixing! I haven't seen this discussed before & I'm wondering IF my thinking may be correct! I'm ALSO curious if the different colors will effect fish behavior! One person told me that fish are color blind, but that doesn't sound right to me! Thanks!
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Calcium carbonate substrates have little impact on chemistry by dissolution, if that is the question. There are lots of other minerals that would be unsuitable.
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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