Can I get "live sand" from the ocean?

[Jay Norris]

Every tank I’ve started I collected the sand from the beach. I did rinse it all out though every time. So not really live but definitely from the beach/ocean. No issues, I live in south Florida though.

I also live in South Florida, and collect sand from the Outer Reefs off the Keys in about 30' of water. Never had any issues and the sand is so full of life.

 

[Subsea]

The question is if rocks have to be transported to introduce the " higher level" diversity?

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/rock.html

Some higher level diversity can be brought in as individual species. There are many reputable vendors. I like IndoPacific SeaFarms in Hawaii and Reeftopia in Florida. However, the nutrient rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico provide unique habitats for sponges & byozone of many colors. I am very fortunate to have access to this source. Once when buildig a new system, I specified needing a 20-30 lb showpiece. The diver/owner set me a text picture from 30’ underwater and from the boat ride in at 10AM. I received that rock in Austin before midnight.

http://www.gulfliverock.com/premium-decorative-rock.html

This is real live rock and is diversity on steroids!

 

[Paul B]

I viewed and focused on sand in both Jamaica and florida. I saw lots of little pieces of wood, glass, remnants of a crab and even fish. I also considered that people use the beach and food, beverages, suntan lotion and other substances wash up on the shoreline and likely are in the sand rendering " Not worth the risk"

Guess whats in the sand in the places where they collect our sand, fish and inverts?
Pieces of wood, glass, remnants or crabs and even fish. Most of it also has food, beverages, suntan lotion and other substances. After they collect it, some 8 year old kid throws it up on a filthy barge along with his lunch of maceral, shore crabs and maybe a beer.

The sand you collect is better because you can see most of that stuff and if it bothers yo, remove it. I have been to the places where they collect sand/rock/fish etc. You would be amazed what goes into those bags and no one goes through it before they put that pretty picture of a coral reef on the bag.

Long island sand is probably cleaner, but to fine.

 

[cracker]

Iv'e collected sand & silty mud from the sea.I honestly saw no differences at all. I love sand from the Keys !

 

[Oliver d]

My own tanks and the two I started for friends where started with live sand collected from our beaches just below the high water mark.

 

[Subsea]

My own tanks and the two I started for friends where started with live sand collected from our beaches just below the high water mark.

Can you post a picture of your tank? I looked for a tank thread. Do you scuba dive? I am green with envy of your location. Are you on Red Se or Persian Gulf? I would think that for biodiversity, it would be more productive near a reef instead of beach sand.

 

[Oliver d]

Don t have a build/tank thread.I live on the Persian Gulf on the Palm Island in Dubai a part of the UAE.Yes I scuba dive and have dive all over the world.Even just below the high water mark there is enough biodiversity I also collect sand on some of the local reefs.

 

[VR28man]

Why " live " rock from GOM is better?

There are two fundamental schools of thought on this. One is the "quarantine and sterilize everything" school. The other is to get as much biodiversity in the tank as you can (@Paul B is probably the extreme example of this) and let it work itself out. The first school makes intuitive sense. However, many of the most vocal advocates of the last school have a lot of experience with the ocean (again, to include @Paul B, whose family worked in the seafood business in NYC in the 50s, and due to this and his 40+ years of marine aquarium keeping he probably knows A LOT about handling ocean livestock).

I'm not aware of any empirical tests showing the long term advantages/disadvantages of each side. I do know John Tullock, a prominent saltwater aquarium writer who apparently passed several years ago (who had a PhD in marine biology, did lots of field work in the Keys, and ran saltwater aquarium stores from the 60s-90s) said that ocean live rock will be better because (paraphrasing) it's a tricky and slow process to bring dead rock through the nitrification -> denitrification -> diatom-> cyano -> finally coralline algae phases. In his experience, lots of algae problems are a result of problems in that cycle. (even after two years, my dead rock has minimal coralline growth, while my ocean rock has persistent patches of coralline and sponges that expand and contract).

And as far as the GOM live rock, here in the U.S. people of the second school will generally prefer live rock from the ocean. The GOM has a few live rock farms, and several vendors (like @liverock ) will ship it to your nearest airport, with water, same day (it's as if someone took a fish from the Mediterranean for you in the morning, and you picked it up at your nearest large airport in the afternoon). This IMO is far and away the best way to get real ocean live rock, if that's your thing.

 

[Reef.]

Pretty sure you aren't allowed to collect sand or rocks from the beach. One thing to get a handful, but people getting buckets...

Depends where you live.

In my area you are allowed to collect any that has fallen onto a path or blown onto the road.

 

[Paul B]

I like to take a handful of this mud from under these mud snails in the Long Island Sound at low tide. The snails don't mind and will give it to you for free.

The Mud police won't care, they may just look at you funny. This is not Florida or the Cayman Islands. However, if you back a tractor trailer up to the beach at Coney Island in Brooklyn (where I was born), they may have an issue with that. ;Wideyed

Anybody that does "not" do this and has a very old reef, raise your hand............Higher

 

[LOVEROCK]

I like to take a handful of this mud from under these mud snails in the Long Island Sound at low tide. The snails don't mind and will give it to you for free.

The Mud police won't care, they may just look at you funny. This is not Florida or the Cayman Islands. However, if you back a tractor trailer up to the beach at Coney Island in Brooklyn (where I was born), they may have an issue with that. ;Wideyed

Anybody that does "not" do this and has a very old reef, raise your hand............Higher

lol paul b ! im from coney island

 

[Jay Norris]

I'm not sure I would dig down and grab it lower as you suggest nor do I think it is bad grabbing a bit of sand from the beach. However, please keep in mind there are laws and regulations that will prevent you taking it from some areas such as marine reserves and/or parks. Not sure what state you live in or location but it wouldn't hurt to check before. I'm in Northern California but go diving all the time in Monterey and I just can't collect in most places I dive. However, there is a beach or two that I'll stop on the way home to collect some water and/or shells to provide new homes for the few hermits I have. I've also used these areas to collect NSW during the drought years after checking with the state water resource control board and also fish and game.

Now another thing to keep in mind that our home aquariums are warmer than the Atlantic or Pacific coasts water. Southern boarders of course like Florida on the East or Catalina on the West are warmer but still not like what you keep at home. I don't think the bacteria or biological life will do what you are wanting. My suggestion is to grab a cup or two from a LFS you trust or a fellow reefer. If neither of those options work you can buy a bag of it or just let it run its course during the traditional cycle.

If you bring anything over via an upgrade, or from a fellow reefer, or some rock or rubble (it doesn't have to be sand) life will find the sand and spread. I just saw this first hand when I upgraded my 40 breeder to a 210 gallon tank with 150 lbs of rock and 200 lbs of sand. Within a week or two I had worms and everything else spreading on everything and every inch of sand. Mother Nature is pretty amazing in the end.

Hi, I live in South Florida and collect live sand from the ocean all the time, and so far everything has been doing fine for the last 40 yrs or so. I also collect my sand from the outer reefs off the Florida Keys, but if you want to collect it from the beach, I would just wade out a little and collect it past the mean low water mark. Also make sure you are not collecting the sand to close to an major commercial plants with water discharges near bye.

 

[Jay Norris]

I like to take a handful of this mud from under these mud snails in the Long Island Sound at low tide. The snails don't mind and will give it to you for free.

The Mud police won't care, they may just look at you funny. This is not Florida or the Cayman Islands. However, if you back a tractor trailer up to the beach at Coney Island in Brooklyn (where I was born), they may have an issue with that. ;Wideyed

Anybody that does "not" do this and has a very old reef, raise your hand............Higher

Hi Paul, have you ever added these to your system, they look really cool.

 

[Paul B]

Of course. I got a bunch in there now. I can fill a fifty gallon drum with them in 10 minutes.