Just a note about livesand for newbies....

smy168 · 06/05/2006, 10:34 AM

I've seen alot of new hobbyists on this forum lately asking about livesand from the bags and I wanted to share some experiences and info with you before you jump in. DON'T DO IT!

I think the key question is this.........

1. How do you keep sand live in a bag on a shelf with no food, oxygen or temp control?

You can't, these bags of sand use key words like "bio-activity, microbial," they mean nothing and in the end all it means is that dry sand is mixed with salt water. the reason your tank clears so much quicker is because it's wet sand that doesn't require cleaning.

I say this becasue in my 120 I bought 200lbs of this stuff, and it didn't cycle any better or had any beneficial bacteria, i knoiw this because of my anality, I sent a 10lbs bag to my chemist friend and he did some studies that came back absolutely devoid of any life-forms whatsoever. Yeah, ****ed me off too.

So what would I recommend? Dry sand with a cupful of livesand from an established tank, you can get this from a friend or even the lfs, this seeding precess would inherently give you better results. There is no shortcut to cycling no matter what this hobby tries to sell you, cycling is cycling, it requires time, patience and planning. I've been in this hobby for a little over 10years now and have learned the hardway by losing corals and livestock because I was impatient and didn't take the time to read.

Best of luck to you all and remember that the ocean isn't a limitless resource of corals, fish and liverock, we're losing more life forms everyday so do it right the first time and I promise this hobby will offer you alot more than you think.

Steven

PoukieBear · 06/05/2006, 11:17 AM

Thanks for sharing that.

When I was starting up my tank, there was no way that I was going to buy a bag of "live" sand off the shelf at twice the price!

I raised the same question you did. How can a bag of dry sand have any benneficial bacteria that thrive in saltwater? Wouldn't all the bacteria be dead???

So I just went with normal sand and the cycle was fine.

Shooter7 · 06/05/2006, 11:24 AM

Agree...I've started several tanks with plain old dry aragonite and they cycle just fine. And the live rock inhabits the sand bed with all kinds of stuff. I've got worm trails and what not you can see on the side of the tank under the surface of the sand.

Quote:

i knoiw this because of my anality

Is anality a word?

I'll have to write that one down. I've suffered from that occasionally.

06/05/2006, 10:34 AM	#1
smy168 Back to the habit Join Date: May 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 1,027	Just a note about livesand for newbies.... I've seen alot of new hobbyists on this forum lately asking about livesand from the bags and I wanted to share some experiences and info with you before you jump in. DON'T DO IT! I think the key question is this......... 1. How do you keep sand live in a bag on a shelf with no food, oxygen or temp control? You can't, these bags of sand use key words like "bio-activity, microbial," they mean nothing and in the end all it means is that dry sand is mixed with salt water. the reason your tank clears so much quicker is because it's wet sand that doesn't require cleaning. I say this becasue in my 120 I bought 200lbs of this stuff, and it didn't cycle any better or had any beneficial bacteria, i knoiw this because of my anality, I sent a 10lbs bag to my chemist friend and he did some studies that came back absolutely devoid of any life-forms whatsoever. Yeah, ****ed me off too. So what would I recommend? Dry sand with a cupful of livesand from an established tank, you can get this from a friend or even the lfs, this seeding precess would inherently give you better results. There is no shortcut to cycling no matter what this hobby tries to sell you, cycling is cycling, it requires time, patience and planning. I've been in this hobby for a little over 10years now and have learned the hardway by losing corals and livestock because I was impatient and didn't take the time to read. Best of luck to you all and remember that the ocean isn't a limitless resource of corals, fish and liverock, we're losing more life forms everyday so do it right the first time and I promise this hobby will offer you alot more than you think. Steven __________________ SY Current Tank Info: Nuvo 16

06/05/2006, 11:17 AM	#2
PoukieBear Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Ottawa Posts: 2,067	Thanks for sharing that. When I was starting up my tank, there was no way that I was going to buy a bag of "live" sand off the shelf at twice the price! I raised the same question you did. How can a bag of dry sand have any benneficial bacteria that thrive in saltwater? Wouldn't all the bacteria be dead??? So I just went with normal sand and the cycle was fine. __________________ Michelle ~Poukie, I'm proud of you for throwing up that cake. ~~Mikey~~ ~You're not drunk if you can lay on the floor without holding on. ~Save the earth, there are no princesses on Mars.