Live sand

Will argonite sand eventually become live?

 

Yes, through the course of the cycle, it will begin to foster bacteria. If deep enough, it will also foster anaerobic bacteria to help with the denitrification process.

 

it will still have denitrifying bacteria, just not the anaerobic kind.
there are two types of nitrifying bacteria. the anaerobic are more efficient tho because they dont have a thick cell wall to block the oxygen from passing through

 

My sand bed is about 3" is that deep enough?

 

Don't worry about the depth of the sand bed, a normal 1-2" sand bed will work just fine to house bacteria that will aid in the break down of waste. A deeper bed will allow the anaerobic bacteria to grow, by definition they live in areas of very low oxygen or no oxygen. A 3" bed may be deep enough, it's really right on the edge. Keep in mind there are negatives of deep sand beds. The bacteria also produce hydrogen sulfide as a by product which can build up in pockets and be released into the aquarium. Hydrogen sulfide smells really bad and is toxic.

 

Yeah I blow hard at estimation. My sand bed is only 1.5'' deep.