seeding sand

luebkeb13 · 10/05/2006, 08:47 PM

so i am going to get some of this kolorscape sand for my tank, i have been told to seed it with live sand....how do you "seed" it, is it spreading it over the top, or making holes for it???

sir_dudeguy · 10/05/2006, 08:53 PM

just throw a scoop or 2 of live sand from a local reefer on top of what you got. It will turn it all live in time.

showtime305 · 10/05/2006, 08:56 PM

Try to get some sand from some that has a well established tank.

luebkeb13 · 10/05/2006, 09:08 PM

so i could go to local reefers and just ask for a scoop of sand from one of their tanks?

bertoni · 10/05/2006, 09:10 PM

That'll probably be fine. How much sand is in the tank? 1"? 2"?

sir_dudeguy · 10/05/2006, 09:12 PM

ya most locals will just give you a scoop for free. Actually they'll give you a lot of stuff for free lol. I've always come home with 2 extra corals than i went to get, some chaeto, food, etc...just a bunch of freebies to give i guess lol

luebkeb13 · 10/05/2006, 09:17 PM

i have no sand yet, was going to get it this weekend, just wanted to make sure i was going to do this right

bertoni · 10/05/2006, 09:32 PM

For a shallow sand bed, 1" or so, you probably don't need to seed it at all, although some seeding might help. The problem with taking sand from local reefers is that you might get some pests with it.

luebkeb13 · 10/05/2006, 09:37 PM

do you think local reefers might do some testing for me before i get some? is there anything i could see in their tank that i might be able to i.d.?

sir_dudeguy · 10/05/2006, 09:48 PM

well...that would be the problem...its almost impossible to see the pests half of the time...you can get something and not even see it untill its full grown 3 months later, you know what i mean? But a few things to NOT worry about that many newbies commonly do worry about are:
pods...little white bugs that run around the rocks, and the really tiny ones stick to the glass...theres a few bad ones, but for the most part we just get the good ones...one bad one that i know of has big black eyes.

bristleworms...can be red, brown/black, pink, or any mixture of those colors lol. They're just a worm with little spikey things (bristles) all over them...they look nasty but they're good and will eat some of the poo and whatnot in the sand/rock.

a second ago i had another good one in mind...but i just spaced out so bad and i cant think of it now lol

showtime305 · 10/05/2006, 09:54 PM

Maybe you can get it from someone that you know and trust. Don't stress about adding pest to your system from another reefer tank. Chances are you wonâ€™t pull anything bad over. You are running the same risk when you add live rock from the store. Your tank should remain empty for a while during the cycling process so you will have lots of time to watch your tank for good and bad critters like we all have.

luebkeb13 · 10/05/2006, 09:59 PM

great! thanks for the help!

10/05/2006, 08:47 PM	#1
luebkeb13 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 54	seeding sand so i am going to get some of this kolorscape sand for my tank, i have been told to seed it with live sand....how do you "seed" it, is it spreading it over the top, or making holes for it???

10/05/2006, 08:53 PM	#2
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	just throw a scoop or 2 of live sand from a local reefer on top of what you got. It will turn it all live in time. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

10/05/2006, 08:56 PM	#3
showtime305 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 87	Try to get some sand from some that has a well established tank. __________________ AJ Current Tank Info: 24g SPS Reef...in progess, 10g SPS/Zoanthid Prop Tank

10/05/2006, 09:08 PM	#4
luebkeb13 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 54	so i could go to local reefers and just ask for a scoop of sand from one of their tanks? __________________ The things you see Current Tank Info: 125 gal. salt

10/05/2006, 09:10 PM	#5
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That'll probably be fine. How much sand is in the tank? 1"? 2"? __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

10/05/2006, 09:12 PM	#6
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	ya most locals will just give you a scoop for free. Actually they'll give you a lot of stuff for free lol. I've always come home with 2 extra corals than i went to get, some chaeto, food, etc...just a bunch of freebies to give i guess lol __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

10/05/2006, 09:17 PM	#7
luebkeb13 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 54	i have no sand yet, was going to get it this weekend, just wanted to make sure i was going to do this right __________________ The things you see Current Tank Info: 125 gal. salt

10/05/2006, 09:32 PM	#8
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	For a shallow sand bed, 1" or so, you probably don't need to seed it at all, although some seeding might help. The problem with taking sand from local reefers is that you might get some pests with it. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

10/05/2006, 09:37 PM	#9
luebkeb13 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 54	do you think local reefers might do some testing for me before i get some? is there anything i could see in their tank that i might be able to i.d.? __________________ The things you see Current Tank Info: 125 gal. salt

10/05/2006, 09:48 PM	#10
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	well...that would be the problem...its almost impossible to see the pests half of the time...you can get something and not even see it untill its full grown 3 months later, you know what i mean? But a few things to NOT worry about that many newbies commonly do worry about are: pods...little white bugs that run around the rocks, and the really tiny ones stick to the glass...theres a few bad ones, but for the most part we just get the good ones...one bad one that i know of has big black eyes. bristleworms...can be red, brown/black, pink, or any mixture of those colors lol. They're just a worm with little spikey things (bristles) all over them...they look nasty but they're good and will eat some of the poo and whatnot in the sand/rock. a second ago i had another good one in mind...but i just spaced out so bad and i cant think of it now lol __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

10/05/2006, 09:54 PM	#11
showtime305 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 87	Maybe you can get it from someone that you know and trust. Don't stress about adding pest to your system from another reefer tank. Chances are you wonâ€™t pull anything bad over. You are running the same risk when you add live rock from the store. Your tank should remain empty for a while during the cycling process so you will have lots of time to watch your tank for good and bad critters like we all have. __________________ AJ Current Tank Info: 24g SPS Reef...in progess, 10g SPS/Zoanthid Prop Tank

10/05/2006, 09:59 PM	#12
luebkeb13 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 54	great! thanks for the help! __________________ The things you see Current Tank Info: 125 gal. salt