Tropical sand an bad idea?

[darklcd]

hey all

I am headed to the Dominican for my study break and I was not able to get my collectors permit for fish but I still want to bring something back with me. I am thinking about scoping up about 40 lbs of sand from around the reef that we are going to be on for the majority of the time. I know there are worries of bugs and other issues in the sand and I am wondering what they are and what I can do to still be able to use it in my tank.

Any thoughts?

 

[NC2WA]

why do you want to do this? what is the benefit of getting sand from the Dominican vs an established reef tank or bag of sand?

to me,there are too many things and pests that could be in the sand that is not worth the risk to me..I would leave the sand where it is and get sand from an established reef tank or bag of sand and let the bacteria growth naturally.

my .02

 

[darklcd]

The only reason I want to do it is to have something from my trip and I thought it would be interesting to have harvested something myself from a tropical area. I was thinking about boiling it in fresh water and that should take care of all the bad things in it.

 

[beoks]

i could be wrong i but i thought taking anything was a big no no, with that said id skip the sand and go for some bad ass shells or something with character sand is sand imo im heading to indonesia at the end of next month wonder if they have a UPS on the island

 

[NC2WA]

agreed, which is why i asked my question..a nice shell on the shelf would be nice.

 

[apollothesun]

ive gone to the philippines to boracay and brought live sand in several water bottle and stuck it in my tank. the airport security looked at me crazy cuz i had about 6 water bottles of it. it was heavy too. my wife said i was crazy. but hey, i couldnt resist. the thing is the only way it can be live is that the sand has to be collected the day you leave in order to benefit any beneficial bacteria to live to get to your home tank. you cant take corals back home though, there were several signs in the airport that stated it was a crime taking animals and corals, huge fine and jail time. good thing i didnt, tempted but i knew anything i took wouldnt survive the trip back home.
i remeber snorkeling and watching locals just grabbing corals right out of the reef and bringing them into their boats.
on a side note, i remember seeing this blue coral at least 4 feet tall. i was so amazed by it i just swam towards it and unknown to me the current almost crashed me into it. the closest thing i seen in the hobby that was available was the oregon tort.

 

[akunochi]

i could be wrong i but i thought taking anything was a big no no, with that said id skip the sand and go for some bad ass shells or something with character sand is sand imo im heading to indonesia at the end of next month wonder if they have a UPS on the island

Yes they do!

 

[darklcd]

thats a good idea I was not sure how to get it home as for shells and other things they seem to frown on that more then sand. I have a friend that went down last year and tried to bring a shell back and they would not allow it thats why i was thinking about the sand but I wanted to do the whole sane bed but with enough large water bottles I just might be able to do it lol