Adding live sand to young system

rja · Apr 28, 2022

Local coral farm has offered me some aragonite covered in coralline to help seed my system with some biodiversity. The sand is around 30 years wet. From the ocean, he pointed at a massive dead clam and said that is was eaten by the bacteria in like a week lol

should i do it? Any possible negative side effects?

Spare time · Apr 28, 2022

The only possible downside would be pests or disease if either of these were present in the tank.

rja · Apr 28, 2022

Spare time said:
The only possible downside would be pests or disease if either of these were present in the tank.

Would it do a lot for biodiversity?

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 28, 2022

I'd definitely jump on that

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 28, 2022

Do you know why they would want to get rid of it?

Reef. · Apr 28, 2022

rja said:
Would it do a lot for biodiversity?

Everything you add is a risk.

Is the sand needed? No but it would almost certainly add to the biodiversity in the tank.

rja · Apr 28, 2022

livinlifeinBKK said:
Do you know why they would want to get rid of it?

Nobody has really asked them for it before, it was just an idea I had. The kid there (owners son) said he uses it to instantly start tanks

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 28, 2022

rja said:
Nobody has really asked them for it before, it was just an idea I had. The kid there (owners son) said he uses it to instantly start tanks

I mean I don't know how they run their tank or anything but it sounds like a really good opportunity to add some diversity to your microbiome!...if it really has been in there for 30+ years it's obviously fully matured and if they're system is successful that's partial evidence of a successful microbiome... (And everything carries some risk...some of the best aquaculture facilities and successful hobbyists use natural seawater straight from the ocean and don't have problems...if it's a good coral farm I'd definitely go for it personally)

rja · Apr 28, 2022

livinlifeinBKK said:
I mean I don't know how they run their tank or anything but it sounds like a really good opportunity to add some diversity to your microbiome!...if it really has been in there for 30+ years it's obviously fully matured and if they're system is successful that's partial evidence of a successful microbiome... (And everything carries some risk...some of the best aquaculture facilities and successful hobbyists use natural seawater straight from the ocean and don't have problems...if it's a good coral farm I'd definitely go for it personally)

I think I will go for it. The tank itself is basically a massive pond filled with giant clams and anemones. The place itself is insane and the fact that the animals are all thriving leads me to believe the sand would be a healthy addition

livinlifeinBKK · Apr 28, 2022

rja said:
I think I will go for it. The tank itself is basically a massive pond filled with giant clams and anemones. The place itself is insane and the fact that the animals are all thriving leads me to believe the sand would be a healthy addition

There's probably a lot more healthy bacteria in there than just nitrifying bacteria as well

SlugSnorter · Apr 28, 2022

rja said:
Local coral farm has offered me some aragonite covered in coralline to help seed my system with some biodiversity. The sand is around 30 years wet. From the ocean, he pointed at a massive dead clam and said that is was eaten by the bacteria in like a week lol

should i do it? Any possible negative side effects?

Beyond basic pest risk? no.

Maybe carefully remove some of the old sand so you don't end up with a massive amount of sand and get deadzones.