Lots of questions, always a good thing. I've never used Ammo-Chips, so I didn't think of the fact that they are FW-only, well, lesson learned. The multiple colors on the LR was most likely coralline algae, but it seems it has died off, and that is the reason it is white-die off, green-nuisance algae, and brown-cyanobacteria. It is all part of the cycle. Your LFS dealer was most likely referring to bristle worms when he spoke of bad worms, but this is only true to an extent. Baby bristle worms are great, they eat detritus, add diversity to a DSB, and end up as food for your livestock. You see, large bristle worms are harmful and detrimental as they can kill your fish and such, but I must stress that this is only the large, adult worms, and bristle worms shouldn't grow large enough to do this, as your cleanup crew should eat them before they get fair size, so they get rid of your trash for awhile, stir the sandbed, and then end up as food, where's the downside? On the subject of curing the LR, which can or cannot be done, I'll try to explain it. When you buy uncured LR, it simply means that it has not gone through the cycle, or been seeded with helpful bacteria, aka, uncured. Uncured LR can be good, or it can be bad. If you are just starting, no inhabitants, then uncured LR is good, as it starts the ever-needed cycle, and is much less expensive, so if you don't have anything in your tank, then use uncured LR, and allow it to go through the cycle. Certain organisms on the uncured LR will die off, creating ammonia, and the cycle will start. I guess now the cycle needs explaining. Here goes: 1. Any food, dead organisms, excess nutrients, or animal waste is converted to ammonia, a natural process, and as ammonia is highly toxic, needs to be gotten rid of. 2. Bacteria become established in the sandbed, filter media, and LR, that convert the ammonia to a less-toxic nitrite, though it is still toxic, just not as much as ammonia. 3. More, and different, bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate, only detrimental in high quanities, over 60 ppm, IMO. 4. Nitrate is used up by certain algaes, and is thus depleted. 5. Algae is eaten by algae-grazers, such as tangs and angels, and they produce waste, and the process/cycle starts over. This cycle is known as the Nitrogen Cycle, and unless your sandbed, LR, and filtration is capable of completing the cycle, your fish will die, from ammonia and nitrite, which cause problems in the gills and membranes, thus the death. You don't feed LR at all, as it is not the rock that is living, the rock is just the harborer of life. You can occasionally give your sandbed a boost of life, by adding certain worms, pods, and beneficial bacteria. Worms include elephant worms, bristle worms(babies), etc. Pods include arthropods, amphipods, copepods, etc. Bacteria include Nitrosomas(converts nitrite to nitrate), and Nitrobacter(converts ammonia to nitrite), etc. So, essentially, uncured LR has not been "cleaned" of the organisms that will most likely die, and cured LR has already been cleaned or these organisms. As for the aragonite and CC, I would get rid of the CC, and replace it with a fine-grade playsand, PS, which should contain no silicates, asbestos, and should be white. Then you would cover that with a layer of live sand, LS. You see, if you used the dry aragonite, it costs about $1/lb, so that's $50 for 50lbs, or you can buy a 50 lb bag of PS for $5, considerably cheaper. The purpose of the LS is to seed the PS with the micro-critters mentioned earlier, pods, worms, and bacteria. For my 75 G I have 200 lbs of PS, and I seeded that with a 20 lb bag of LS, much cheaper than had I gone with aragonite and/or pure LS. As for the best site for fish compatibility, I would turn you around, and point you back where you came from, SWF.com. IMO, it's the best around, and has come to be a second home for me. HTH
