lfs and live sand

[ggray-1]

Is this live sand that you can buy at the lfs that is prepackaged any good. The bag says the shelf life is one year. Can anything really be living after a month even in a bag of sand with a little water?

 

[2poor2reef]

Sure. Bacteria. Live sand is a term used to mean many different things. The bagged sand that I have seen is useful when you want to speed up the cycle of a new system. I use it in my small systems where cost isn't such a factor as it's a little pricey in my opinion.

 

[MattM]

Like 2poor2reef said, about all that will be in there is bacteria, if that.

When we talk about "live sand" we are talking about worms, and micro-crustaceans, and lots of other stuff that you will not find inside a sealed bag of wet sand.

Don't waste your money. Put good quality live rock on top of dead aragonite - many forms of life will move in. Better yet, add a small "starter culture" of sand from a well-established tank. A couple ounces will do it.

 

[Reef Fever]

I found the Arag-Alive for $19.99 for a 20-lb. bag at a LFS. That is about the same price as the dead stuff. (The same bag was $30.99 at another store!) It is also much cleaner, and doesn't turn the water into milk. I know I paid a little for water weight, but at that price I really like the sand. I used 4 bags in setting up my 75-Gallon tank, and combined it with Live Sand from other established tanks, and some from the bottom of my LFS Liverock tub. When combined with 80 lbs. of the "dead" sand, I got a very nice DSB for my display tank and Sump that does not milk the water when disturbed.

I wouldn't pay a premium for it, but if you find a good deal on it I highly reccomend it. Just don't expect it to be the same as true "Live" sand that has lots of happy worms and amhipods like what you get from an established tank.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. When I talk about live sand I mean sand with all sorts of life including bacteria. I too would stay away from that pre packaged stuff and either seed dead sand with some from an established tank or several established tanks, or seed it with some good live rock. Soon enough that bed will be rocking.

 

[reefsRcool]

DR ron says that stuff is junk and i see no reason to doubt that. southdown is like $4 for a 50lb bag seems like a no brainer to me

 

[monkeyboy]

DR ron says that stuff is junk and i see no reason to doubt that. southdown is like $4 for a 50lb bag seems like a no brainer to me

Aragalive or bio-active sand are usefull in that they are totally clean of dust and won't cloud the water. Try adding 50lbs of southdown to an established setup...

 

[Reef Fever]

Is Southdown Aragonite?? Isn't it just Silica Playsand??

Did I miss something? :?:

 

[2poor2reef]

Yeah, let's not cloud the issue. It's not meaningful to call aragonite sand junk. It's sand with active bacteria in it. If I used it I would seed it just like dead sand. It may not be the right grain size for a dsb (the kind I have used WAS). It may be too expensive to use in large quantities. In other words it may not be what you want to use.

The word "live" is not meaningful in and of itself. You have to ask, "what life?". Does live bacteria make it worth the difference in price? Some have said you can sometimes find it without a significant difference in price.

We have many different products to choose from in our hobby. In my experience, packaged live sand is useful in some circumstances. I have used it to reduce the length of the cycle in small tanks. It's GOOD for that. I have used it to increase the depth of an existing sand bed. It is GOOD for that too. I would not call it junk. Know what it is. Know what it isn't. Then choose.

My opinion only.

 

[reefsRcool]

southdown is not silica. and it is my undersatanding that the bacteria that comes on that "live" isn't that special. I wish i could remember where that thing i read was. basically it went something along the lines of yes it has bacteria but 99% of everything in the world has some bacteria on it and that basically is all that is in the sand. not exactly a lie per say but definatly a marketing ploy. i know the guys at inland are in the know on this stuff and have had it out with the makers at a show or two want to chime in here and share from your knowlege. as far as helping speed cycle time, anyone have conclusive proof of that? i don't have any experiance adding southdown to an existing tank, but when i used my last bag of "live" sand in my old tank i would say it put up a pretty fair cloud too. I really don't care what you use i mean it's nothing to me i don't own southdown stock or anything, just would rather see you spend your cash on stuff that matters. if you are in an area where southdown is unobtainable then you options are more limited no doubt.