Cup of sand from LFS

[Camel413]

I just set my tank up a few weeks ago. It is a 29 gal with 25# of dry rock and 10# of live rock from the lfs. When I was purchasing my lr I asked if I could get a bit of sand to help establish my tank and he would not sell me any. He said "I dont do that because if I have anything bad then you would get it to"

Is this normal, my only lfs is over an hour away and the next closest one is over 3 hours away, I really hate to try and travel over 3 hours just to get a cup of sand.

Also while my lr "looks" really good (lots of color, smells great) it didnt really seem to come with any goodies. It has been in my tank for a week and I havent seen the first thing, not even any pods. What can I do to try to get some diversity in my tank?

Thanks for the help.

[100%hydrophylic]

wait

it will take a while for all the critters to show up. or at least it will take a while for them to grow to a population big enough for you to notice. if you want to seed your sand that bad maybe a local reefer will sell you/ donate a cup of sand from their fuge?

[thegrun]

You could look for sand from a fellow reefer in your area. Look in the local reef club forum in reef central (it's at the bottom of the long list of forums). Your local fish store is probably correct, due to the high volume of fish that cycle through their tanks on a weekly basis, there is a strong likelihood you will get bad along with the good. Most LFS also treat their tanks with copper, which you do not want in your tank.

[Camel413]

After all the reading on here it just seemed that most people when setting up a new tank they would seed their sand. I can wait and see what pops up. I am still cycling so it will be a bit before I can add any livestock anyway.

Thanks for the quick response.

[billdogg]

Because you have added liverock, you have, in effect, already seeded your sand as well. I would not worry about it at all. Patience is the most difficult aspect of this hobby (obsession) for most people to come to terms with. NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS FAST!!!

[super stooge]

try placing a red filter over a flashlight then waiting till your lights have been out for a little while. have a peek around your tank and you may see a few more little critters than you do during the day

[Indymann99]

Originally Posted by billdogg

Because you have added liverock, you have, in effect, already seeded your sand as well. I would not worry about it at all. Patience is the most difficult aspect of this hobby (obsession) for most people to come to terms with. NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS FAST!!!

+1 Your LR will seed your sandbed.

Speaking of keeping BAD things out.... while you are waiting for your tank to cycle might be good time to read up on QT and get one going...

my 0.02

[jchase1970]

Your profile says southern IL, What LFS to you go to? Just wondering cause I live in southwest Indiana.

[capnfritz]

Is it just me or is the logic in this a little off?
If the live sand the LFS has is questionable,
wouldnt his stock be too?

[davewbush]

There are a few places on the internet that sell 2 pound bags of live sand for a good price. I saw one the other day but can't remember the name. I got some from live-plants.com and it had a lot of life in it.

[Camel413]

Jchase I went to Waters of the World on Vogal in Evansville. That is the only store that caries saltwater that I know of. I live in Fairfield IL which is about an hour east of Evansville although I have been to newburg a few times to that holistic pet food store.

[camlov2]

Originally Posted by capnfritz

Is it just me or is the logic in this a little off?
If the live sand the LFS has is questionable,
wouldnt his stock be too?

If the owner doesn't trust his own tanks how much faith should a customer have? I would let the owner know that since his sand isn't good enough for my tank that his corals won't be good enough either.

[muttley000]

Originally Posted by capnfritz

Is it just me or is the logic in this a little off?
If the live sand the LFS has is questionable,
wouldnt his stock be too?

First thought I had too! I hope that the OP is quarantining

[Camel413]

Well right now I am still in the cycling process so havent added anything. The only thing that I have bought from that store was a bag of sand about 3 weeks ago and then LR last Saturday. The lr was very expensive @ $9.00 per pound but all fish prices and dry goods he seems to be very reasonable on. I checked around his store and made mental notes of prices then checked them against online prices and most was only a few bucks cheaper online.

I may just make my livestock purchases online although with only a 29 gal I will only be able to add one or two small fish at a time and the shipping for such small orders will drive the prices up a lot.

[GhostCon1]

I think maybe his LFS meant something living in the sand that may be scooped up that he is unaware of? Not that his stock is bad.

The LR I have in my tank is Bali/Fiji and it's 12.99/lb, want to trade prices? :P

[jchase1970]

I'm about 10 minutes from waters of the world, if you want to come by here sometime I can give you some sand. No big deal. Pm me

[jchase1970]

That LFS is, well odd. But I have bought a few things from him and go in and have a look about every 3 weeks or so.

[TripleT]

Does he sell chaeto? A fistful will contain a bunch of goodies in it as well.

[Camel413]

I think he sells chaeto but I have not seen what tank he gets it from or anything.

[thebkramer]

Ask to look at the tank he gets chaeto from. IME in the past, sometimes the chaeto tank (at LFS) has flatworms or aiptasia growing on the chaeto. Always look at tank things are coming from before you purchase...and look closely!!

[jchase1970]

You can also check out the westside petfood center there on st joe, they have saltwater fish too. If you want to go in on an online order I might want to chip in, I've been looking around the last couple of days but don't want to spend 150 for the free shipping either.

[Camel413]

I forgot about the one on st. joe. My wife and I stopped in there about 3-4 months ago. That is where I bought my display aquarium. Its been so long ago that I cant hardly remember what they had but I do remember they was just setting up some new saltwater tanks.

I am interested in getting a bit of sand from ya. I usally get to evansville 2-3 times a month on weekends, when I get over that way I will pm ya before I come to get the details.