Is Live Sand Really Live?

[steve-s]

In that sense yes, you would be 100% correct. It does contain some life albeit argumentative if beneficial. I guess I took it a step further, my bad.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Scooterman]

for some rason, I can't find his original site

Two basic organism groups are found in reef sand, both in an aquarium and in nature. “Meiofauna” live on the individual sand grains or in the thin films of water between the grains. “Infauna” live within the sediment, but generally displace it in their activities. Infaunal organisms are larger than 0.5 millimeter (1/50 of an inch) in maximum measurement, whereas meiofaunal organisms are often much smaller. While these terms are imprecise and depend on how each animal makes its living, there is an easy distinction between these groups. Infauna can be easily removed from the sediments (Eleftheriou and Holme 1984). Meiofauna often hang on tenaciously to sediment particles, and specialized techniques are necessary to make them let go for observation (Kozloff 1990, Ruppert and Barnes 1994).

Because aquarists obtain live sand from different areas at different times, aquaria are likely to contain dissimilar infaunal arrays. Other variations, such as differences in live rock and the fauna found on it, and the presence of infaunal predators, will contribute to differences in the infauna. However, the general categories and types of animals are likely to be found in all reef system sediments.

 

[Scooterman]

oh now I know why it isn't on-line anymore, he made it into a book LOL,
I'm not going to buy it because I read it already but it is a good read.

 

[Brenden]

go get a microscope & take a look at one of their products, then you will be qualified to make that statement.

Actually I have one and I have looked at it. My brother in law is a manager at a cancer research facility. They have equipment that can photograph through the microscope. If you would like me to ask if he would photograph it I will. Not so I can tell you that "you are not qualified" etc but only if you are interested. I have also experimented with, viewed and tested the bio-spira but that is another argument.

 

[Scooterman]

not necessary I already had a look for myself, it has life plain & simple, it can be beneficial but there are other ways of doing the same thing, like LR. As far as Dr. Ron he yanked his on-line research & converted it into a book, so i can't & won't go into the reasoning of the sand particles & why, unless I can find the data to back it up. I basically said the LS has life & that is it, I'm done with that but thanks for the offer.

 

[Krish]

Wow! Thanks for the input everyone. What everyone is saying makes sense and is all valuable IMO. True...Nothing beats using live sand from another persons established tank as well as rock, but regardless, I still think that the packaged sand has some beneficial bacteria in it. They pack it with water in it for a reason and I was told that the bag expires after some time...Is that true? I would figure that the bacteria in the bag could live for a while sealed up in there, but then again I'm no expert so I could be wrong. In any event, I was just curious if infact the packaged stuff had NO beneficial bacteria in it at all and people were just buying plain old playground sand or if it had some beneficial bacteria in there.

Thanks again for all the input

 

[Scubabr]

I live in Brooklyn on the Atlantic Ocean shore and I am setting a new 120gal. tank.
It would be a piece of cake to dig a few buckets of wet sand directly from the ocean. Has anyone used live sand directly from the ocean? Would this be beneficial to speedup the cycling process? Looking for any tips and thanks ahead of time.
Ben.

 

[Scubabr]

I am planning to get sand tonight after work. I will appreciate if anyone with similar experience le me know if the ocean sand worked for him/her.
Thanks
Ben.

 

[james734]

Scubabr,

Here's a link to a thread someone else asked the same question. I think the general thought is this bad due to all the other pollutants you might also be bringing into a closed system.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17234

 

[Scubabr]

Thanks James.
I still wonder what the manufacturers do differently than we. Where they collect sand that is sold in the local stores and what processes they apply to make it suitable for the SW?
Ben.

 

[Krish]

Well, I figure they must treat the natural sand for parasites or quarentine it for some time but couldn't say. When people get it here for their tanks, they usually go quite a ways off of land (by boat) and get the sand a few yards off of a healthy reef and seem to have much better success than getting close to the shoreline. My friend started a cichlid tank using crushed corals we obtained this way and never had any issues at all and his setup is 2 years old now

 

[Brenden]

I think the sand they collect is from way off the coast to minimize pollution.

 

[Scubabr]

In the past I always brought back a 3 Liter bottle full of crushed coral sand from my Caribbean diving vacations.
Since I a have gave up my old tank some time ago and starting all fresh I would need a lot of sand.
Thinking of cost reduction I was willing to experiment with local sand. The shore I live next to does not look polluted.
The beach sand looks clean but this is not a guarantee that it’s chemically not polluted. This time I need a lot of it to build 3" layer for 120Gal. tank.
So I am still debating.
I would appreciate if some one with a real life case experience shares his knowledge.
Do you know is there a preference of the sand grade (fine or more like crushed coral)?

 

[Aquatic Guru]

Damn Krish I never knew live sand was a so-called fake sand??? I like the look of sand in my tank, but I didn't know I could have gone to Home Depot and it'll still work. Damn..the things I learn everyday. Next time I start a tank I'll consider Home Depot. I bought my bad of " live sand " for like $29 at my LFS. I always thought that price was too much for some sand. Oh well.

 

[Krish]

LOL...I still wouldn't call the Caribsea etc. sand bad sand. I still think it has some beneficial life in there, but yeah...Those bags of sand sell here for almost $80!

 

[Aquatic Guru]

LOL...I still wouldn't call the Caribsea etc. sand bad sand. I still think it has some beneficial life in there, but yeah...Those bags of sand sell here for almost $80!

Whoa..$80?? I thought $29 is alot and that is discounted for me from $33.

 

[Scubabr]

Krish,
Based on your profile your home base Bahamas. With all live sand and crushed coral at the shore why bother with Caribsea.etc sand and spending $80 a bag.
I am in the hobby for more than 15 years and upon return home from vacationing always added sand collected in Caribbean or Bahamas.
Caribsea.etc sand bag might cost $80 at Bahamas LFS, but going there and buying it ... why?
You were kidding right?
PS
Very nice pictures you have posted.
Looking at them made me wanted to drop my work and go on vacation.
Thanks for sharing them.
Ben.

 

[Krish]

Krish,
Based on your profile your home base Bahamas. With all live sand and crushed coral at the shore why bother with Caribsea.etc sand and spending $80 a bag.

LOL...I don't use anything now. I went bare bottom But yeah, sometimes I just don't like taking chances with getting stuff right out of the ocean. I'm afraid to transfer parasites etc which I have seen happen to a tank my friend was taking care of. Even the water I don't use and get knocked for it all the time(LOL)

Very nice pictures you have posted.
Looking at them made me wanted to drop my work and go on vacation.
Thanks for sharing them.
Ben.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them. I try to add as many photos as I can when I can because I know a lot of people may never visit a place like this, so this is my way of sharing what I have been blessed to enjoy