Live Sand

okreef98 · 02/21/2006, 03:34 PM

Do I need to put all live sand in my new 135 gal, or can I mix live sand with dry sand?

doox00 · 02/21/2006, 03:36 PM

from what I have read many people put normal sand in and seed it with a little live sand, eventually it will all be live sand. also I think if you have live rock, that will seed the sand and make it live sand also.

JRPhd · 02/21/2006, 03:37 PM

Will dry sand eventually be seeded by LR?

Infern0 · 02/21/2006, 03:51 PM

Yes...which is what a lot of people do...much cheaper to by dry sand and seed it with rock and already live sand.

drunktank · 02/21/2006, 04:24 PM

just make sure its the right dry sand, some of them arent suitable for aquarium use

Ti · 02/21/2006, 04:25 PM

yeh u can mix it

bertoni · 02/21/2006, 05:12 PM

If you want to have the widest array of animals, you'll want to buy some good live sand. Some live rock animals will move into the sand, but not all sand animals will live in the live rock. If you don't want a live DSB, then you don't need any live sand, IMO, although it might help keep your sand bed cleaner for a longer period of time.

If you do decide to seed with some live sand, billsreef.com gets some good reviews, and I'd buy about 20 lbs for that size tank, if not more. The stuff in a plastic bag at the LFS isn't worth the extra cost, IMO, since it has little more than bacteria.

okreef98 · 02/22/2006, 08:32 AM

I have done some research at www.garf.org and they sell some stuff called garf grunge to help new tanks. Anyone delt with this?

JRPhd · 02/22/2006, 09:19 AM

OK, do some research outside of the garf site. I haven't dealt w/ them, but have read some mixed reports, particularly around customer service.

So, can I add say a pound of live sand to a tank that has been up and running (and cycled), or would an ammonia spike be expected?

bertoni · 02/22/2006, 01:05 PM

You'll get an ammonia spike from live rock if there's enough die-off. I haven't heard of many ammonia spikes from live sand, and I doubt a pound is going to do any harm.

bgbalz · 02/22/2006, 02:48 PM

So what should we look for in the "right sand" in order for it to be reef safe?? I would like to and 40+# of LS to dry sand to establish my sand bed (in addition to poss DSB in fuge) for my future 75g AGA.

bertoni · 02/22/2006, 03:07 PM

I haven't heard of any live sand being dangerous to reefs, although some sort of parasite or disease might always arrive as a hitchhiker, I suppose.

charile1 · 02/22/2006, 03:22 PM

can I just dump play sand on top of the live sand or do I need to mix it together?

GARFVolunteer · 02/22/2006, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by charile1
can I just dump play sand on top of the live sand or do I need to mix it together?

You do not want to dump a lot of sand on top of live sand or you can kill the fauna. Add it in small amounts like 1/8" to 1/4" at a time. Give it around 3 days between additions.

Thanks,

Scott

bgbalz · 02/22/2006, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by drunktank
just make sure its the right dry sand, some of them arent suitable for aquarium use

What do we need to look for in the right dry sand then to mix with Arag-Alive for seeding???

bertoni · 02/22/2006, 04:53 PM

I would skip the Arag-Alive. It doesn't have anything except bacteria, which isn't worth the extra money, IMO. Also, for real live sand, I'd just put it on top of the dead sand. Mixing would kill a lot of organisms.

02/21/2006, 03:34 PM	#1
okreef98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: OKC, Oklahoma GO SOONERS Posts: 78	Live Sand Do I need to put all live sand in my new 135 gal, or can I mix live sand with dry sand?

02/21/2006, 03:37 PM	#3
JRPhd Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SE WI for now Posts: 392	Will dry sand eventually be seeded by LR? __________________ Me fail Inglish, that's unpossible. Current Tank Info: 40g Oceanic stretchhex. 24" PC Aqua Lunarlights. 50lbs. Marshall LR. 2"SB. Heater. Maxi-900x2. Aqua C Remora Skimmer w/ maxi-1200. DIY HOT Fuge with Chaeto. mmmmm chaeto.

02/21/2006, 04:25 PM	#6
Ti Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 7,927	yeh u can mix it __________________ Hair algae is my Macro algae.

02/21/2006, 05:12 PM	#7
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	If you want to have the widest array of animals, you'll want to buy some good live sand. Some live rock animals will move into the sand, but not all sand animals will live in the live rock. If you don't want a live DSB, then you don't need any live sand, IMO, although it might help keep your sand bed cleaner for a longer period of time. If you do decide to seed with some live sand, billsreef.com gets some good reviews, and I'd buy about 20 lbs for that size tank, if not more. The stuff in a plastic bag at the LFS isn't worth the extra cost, IMO, since it has little more than bacteria. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/22/2006, 09:19 AM	#9
JRPhd Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SE WI for now Posts: 392	OK, do some research outside of the garf site. I haven't dealt w/ them, but have read some mixed reports, particularly around customer service. So, can I add say a pound of live sand to a tank that has been up and running (and cycled), or would an ammonia spike be expected? __________________ Me fail Inglish, that's unpossible. Current Tank Info: 40g Oceanic stretchhex. 24" PC Aqua Lunarlights. 50lbs. Marshall LR. 2"SB. Heater. Maxi-900x2. Aqua C Remora Skimmer w/ maxi-1200. DIY HOT Fuge with Chaeto. mmmmm chaeto.

02/21/2006, 03:36 PM	#2
doox00 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: West Michigan Posts: 928	from what I have read many people put normal sand in and seed it with a little live sand, eventually it will all be live sand. also I think if you have live rock, that will seed the sand and make it live sand also.

02/21/2006, 03:51 PM	#4
Infern0 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Virginia Posts: 229	Yes...which is what a lot of people do...much cheaper to by dry sand and seed it with rock and already live sand.

02/21/2006, 04:24 PM	#5
drunktank Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 404	just make sure its the right dry sand, some of them arent suitable for aquarium use

02/22/2006, 08:32 AM	#8
okreef98 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: OKC, Oklahoma GO SOONERS Posts: 78	I have done some research at www.garf.org and they sell some stuff called garf grunge to help new tanks. Anyone delt with this?

02/22/2006, 01:05 PM	#10
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	You'll get an ammonia spike from live rock if there's enough die-off. I haven't heard of many ammonia spikes from live sand, and I doubt a pound is going to do any harm. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/22/2006, 02:48 PM	#11
bgbalz Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mattawan, MI Posts: 63	So what should we look for in the "right sand" in order for it to be reef safe?? I would like to and 40+# of LS to dry sand to establish my sand bed (in addition to poss DSB in fuge) for my future 75g AGA. __________________ ... and that was the second time I got crabs! Current Tank Info: 75g RR perfecto, 20g sump, Mag7, CSS 220, 260w PC, 2-MJ 1200, SEIO 620, 2 percula clown, 2 green chromis, bangaii cardinal, jawfish

02/22/2006, 03:07 PM	#12
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I haven't heard of any live sand being dangerous to reefs, although some sort of parasite or disease might always arrive as a hitchhiker, I suppose. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/22/2006, 03:22 PM	#13
charile1 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 105	can I just dump play sand on top of the live sand or do I need to mix it together?

02/22/2006, 04:53 PM	#16
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	I would skip the Arag-Alive. It doesn't have anything except bacteria, which isn't worth the extra money, IMO. Also, for real live sand, I'd just put it on top of the dead sand. Mixing would kill a lot of organisms. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni