Substrate?

[fishswim]

I am about to slowly make my tank a reef system. I just want to make sure I have the right kind of substrate.
I have about 1.5 inches of aragonite, and 1.5 inches of live sand. Is this good enough?
50 gallon.

 

[rickt4du]

3 inches of sand is adequate, but 4-5 inches is starting to be considered a minimum. Thats plenty of live sand, it will seed whatever regular sand you have. You should get plenty more responses, but I would go with at least 5 inches.

 

[fishswim]

So what other type of substrate should I put in there to make up the other 2 inches? What is this I keep hearing about play sand?

 

[fishswim]

should I add a little extra live sand, or will the live sand in there now be enough to cultivate the new sand?

 

[cosmosbasement]

Hey guys-My opinion which isn't worth much, go get another 20 lbs or so of Nature's Ocean Marine Live Sand. No critters, just bacteria. Real live sand with critters you would have to get from your LFS or a friend's tank. I used the playsand and didn't like the look of it myself. I went and bought 80lbs of the Nature's Ocean Live Sand and it looks fantastic. More pinks and broader whites in the granules. Hey, you'll pay a lot more but I thought we weren't supposed to skimp out in this hobby!! Just kidding. Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
peace
doug