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hamdogg08
06-16-2008, 05:39 PM
Anyone try out any real deal live sand (as in something now in a bag of saltwater sitting on the store shelf). It seems like there'd be a lot of critters in the live stuff collected from the ocean as opposed to the relatively sterile stuff in the bags at the store. Let me know where you got it and what you think about it.
gruntmon
06-16-2008, 05:48 PM
Don't bother, it's a joke really. You need to rinse the stuff because it is nasty and pretty much takes care of the benefits. We tried it when we first set up. Wasn't worth the extra money. Just find a buddy with a tank and get some seed sand from him. Works tons better.
Taklu
06-16-2008, 06:12 PM
Don't bother, it's a joke really. You need to rinse the stuff because it is nasty and pretty much takes care of the benefits. We tried it when we first set up. Wasn't worth the extra money. Just find a buddy with a tank and get some seed sand from him. Works tons better.


Plus One :agree:
clownnut
06-17-2008, 09:35 AM
live sand = no rinsing
dry sand = need rinsing

i dont think there are any live beneficial animals in there, but no rinsing = less work.
just ask a club member to give you cup of LS.
hamdogg08
06-17-2008, 01:43 PM
Yeah, I may just post to buy a dollar's worth of live sand and just collect a bunch at a meeting in the future. Then I can get all the kickass little critters that make a tank awesome.
David Grigor
06-17-2008, 02:53 PM
Years ago, we did Sand swaps. Logic was to get diversity but didn't really work as planned. Your more likely to inherit other peoples problems more than get diversity. If you have any LR in your system that will seed it just fine.

If you wanting to put sand in a tank that already has water, like Li mentions the commerical live stuff is great no clouding. If you can put the sand in before the water, then no real sense spending the money vs. dry.
hamdogg08
06-17-2008, 03:05 PM
What are the benefits of the sand sifting micro organisms, and what is the best way to acquire them?
clownnut
06-18-2008, 07:51 AM
If you can put the sand in before the water, then no real sense spending the money vs. dry.

I had the same idea as well, but it didnt work that way. i adding 4 bags of dry sand to one of the system at the store. the tank was cloudy for almost 4 weeks, and ton of dust in the sump...

if you going to use dry sand rinse them are a good idea.