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lol I’m not an expert, just a weekly user!
No, I do not believe that they are similar enough to be used interchangeably. Life source is more like raw clay, whereas MM is more like sand/gravel.
Add a scoop of MM (stirred with tank water beforehand) to your tank and it’ll settle to the bottom pretty quickly, with minimal fines being distributed Add a scoop of life source to your tank (again, stirred), and I’ll cloud your whole tank for a few hours with minimal larger pieces sinking to the bottom.
The typical grain size of the two products is vastly different and is, IMO, the limiting factor that prevents them from being used as substitutes.
These two videos show each product -- notice the difference in grain size (Full video for Life Source to show dosing, MM video starts at view of grains):
Bingo. Those videos helped and the call outs on the grain size. It does appear based on the particulate size the AF is designed to mix and mostly dissolve into something that can be dosed into high flow to disperse. Opposed the MM sand like particles that likely will never dissolve besides settle down somewhere physically. I've heard of horror stories with MM where it broadcast accidently in the sump online to cover everything in the DT through return pumps. The AF actually might even benefit from dumping into the return section to have it distribute.
I would have thought particulates like this would end up as a physical irritants causing issues, but it appears in Parker's that it did not in his soft, fish or SPS. I can see the irritants stressing the nem to split.
Guess it's worth a try as we continue to put more voodoo into our tanks. Thank you for the good discussion.