Live sand question

[Parasite1971]

So when you order live sand how do you know you are going to get it within it's shelf life? I plan to order Caribsea special grade.

Thanks!

 

[lapin]

You dont. I have never seen a born on date or expiration date on the bags.
As long as the sand is damp you have bacteria. How much ? We dont know.

 

[Parasite1971]

You dont. I have never seen a born on date or expiration date on the bags.
As long as the sand is damp you have bacteria. How much ? We dont know.

I just always see "12 month" shelf life in the online description...

 

[Multra]

Caribsea has a "best by" on the back.

 

[homer1475]

I look at "live" sand as another gimmick in this hobby.

Look at it this way:
The bag was bagged god knows when, sat in an unheated shipping container, then in a warehouse somewhere. then in an unheated delivery truck to your LFS or online distributor. Now you order it, and it sits in an unheated delivery truck till it gets to your house(I have ordered sand before, and had it come completely frozen lol). What may be alive in it anymore is anyones guess, but dry sand is the same grade and cheaper.

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

I look at "live" sand as another gimmick in this hobby.

Look at it this way:
The bag was bagged god knows when, sat in an unheated shipping container, then in a warehouse somewhere. then in an unheated delivery truck to your LFS or online distributor. Now you order it, and it sits in an unheated delivery truck till it gets to your house(I have ordered sand before, and had it come completely frozen lol). What may be alive in it anymore is anyones guess, but dry sand is the same grade and cheaper.

I’ve always thought the live sand is kind of a gimmick too, from what I understand it seems like bacteria needs some source of ammonia to live right? Hence putting a hardy fish or “phantom feeding” how does the bacteria stay alive with no food source as well as stated by homer no consistent temperature? One of my lfs sell dry rock that they put in a tank with good circulation and call it live rock, I always assumed it was to make you pay for the water weight cause there’s no fish in there and I don’t assume they put ammonia and live bacteria in.

 

[homer1475]

Actually the live bacteria in our tanks, can live quite a long time(think I read several months in a thread a while back) with no food source.

The idea behind phantom feeding and adding a fish right away is to produce an ammonia source to get the bacteria multiplying, and being able to keep up with the bioload.

 

[Sashaka]

I’ve always thought the live sand is kind of a gimmick too, from what I understand it seems like bacteria needs some source of ammonia to live right? Hence putting a hardy fish or “phantom feeding” how does the bacteria stay alive with no food source as well as stated by homer no consistent temperature? One of my lfs sell dry rock that they put in a tank with good circulation and call it live rock, I always assumed it was to make you pay for the water weight cause there’s no fish in there and I don’t assume they put ammonia and live bacteria in.

Playing devils advocate here... If bacteria can survive extreme conditions such as found in outer space, why couldn't some bacteria survive inside what is essentially an enclosed and contained biosphere (ie shipping bag)?

Life in Extreme Environments

Genetic Science Learning Center

learn.genetics.utah.edu

Why bacteria survive in space

Earth germs could be contaminating other planets. Despite extreme decontamination efforts, bacteria from Earth still manages to find its way into outer space aboard spacecraft. Biologist are working to better understand how and why some spores elude decontamination.

www.sciencedaily.com

Bacteria 'from Outer Space' Found on Space Station, Cosmonaut Says: Report

Scientists have detected living bacteria "from outer space" in samples collected from the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) during spacewalks, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov told Russia's state-owned TASS news agency.

www.space.com

The amount of bacteria that survive may be the real question.

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Playing devils advocate here... If bacteria can survive extreme conditions such as found in outer space, why couldn't some bacteria survive inside what is essentially an enclosed and contained biosphere (ie shipping bag)?

Life in Extreme Environments

Genetic Science Learning Center

learn.genetics.utah.edu

Why bacteria survive in space

Earth germs could be contaminating other planets. Despite extreme decontamination efforts, bacteria from Earth still manages to find its way into outer space aboard spacecraft. Biologist are working to better understand how and why some spores elude decontamination.

www.sciencedaily.com

Bacteria 'from Outer Space' Found on Space Station, Cosmonaut Says: Report

Scientists have detected living bacteria "from outer space" in samples collected from the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) during spacewalks, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov told Russia's state-owned TASS news agency.

www.space.com

The amount of bacteria that survive may be the real question.

That’s pretty crazy I assumed that it would have some kind of life with no food but I didn’t expect months to a year.

 

[eraserhead187]

I’ve always thought the live sand is kind of a gimmick too, from what I understand it seems like bacteria needs some source of ammonia to live right? Hence putting a hardy fish or “phantom feeding” how does the bacteria stay alive with no food source as well as stated by homer no consistent temperature? One of my lfs sell dry rock that they put in a tank with good circulation and call it live rock, I always assumed it was to make you pay for the water weight cause there’s no fish in there and I don’t assume they put ammonia and live bacteria in.

Bacteria are much hardier than they get credit for. Certainly many types can live for months or years with no food or water source. As for the bacteria that we need in our tanks, I have no idea. But it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility for them to live quite some time without nutrients.

 

[FishyDP]

The only thing I question about live sand is the fact that bacteria require oxygen to live, if I am not mistakened. Live sand comes in a sealed bag.

 

[eraserhead187]

The only thing I question about live sand is the fact that bacteria require oxygen to live, if I am not mistakened. Live sand comes in a sealed bag.

Many do not, and a lot of bacteria are facultative anaerobes, which means they do use oxygen to create energy, but in the absence of oxygen they are able to use alternative metabolic pathways to generate ATP and survive. Some are obligate anaerobes and the presence of oxygen will kill them altogether or halt their metabolism. One example of that is the bacteria that convert NO3 to N2.