My live sand is expired :( Now what?

[katsreef]

I bought some "live" Caribsea Special Grade Reef sand 20 pound of Amazon for my nano tank that I am setting up. Well the expiration date is 04/2022 and unfortunately it is 09/2022... They also removed prime off of the product so even if I get them to send me another I would have to wait an estimated month when this time I only waited a few days. I was planning on setting my tank up in a few days. Do I return the product?

 

[Jekyl]

Just rinse it well. The bag of "live" sand probably had little to no benefit even before the expiration date.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Rinse it and use it anyway, no sense in wasting it. Bottled bacteria is where the money is at anyway.

 

[Rmckoy]

It’s advertised as live sand but many here will suggest rinsing it but being a new start I think it would be alright to use ,
You have zero bacteria so far , and going to cycle the tank anyways .

 

[Bucs20fan]

It’s advertised as live sand but many here will suggest rinsing it but being a new start I think it would be alright to use ,
You have zero bacteria so far , and going to cycle the tank anyways .

I would always rinse that live sand, ive seen hundreds of bags of it filled with black mold on the inside.

 

[d2mini]

Its not really live sand. Just rinse it and get some bottled bacteria like said above.
Here's some from Dr Tim's...

https://amzn.to/3qZkNXm

 

[Rmckoy]

I would always rinse that live sand, ive seen hundreds of bags of it filled with black mold on the inside.

Never seen black mold . But any time I’ve bought a bag of sand years ago it was used for that particular setup within a week .

I did recently add 2 bags of sand to my established system which I did rinse

 

[Bucs20fan]

Never seen black mold . But any time I’ve bought a bag of sand years ago it was used for that particular setup within a week .

I did recently add 2 bags of sand to my established system which I did rinse

So its not commonly purchased that much at my LFS or petco in my area, as dry aragonite sand is far cheaper. So its sits on shelves and its gross LOL.

 

[LeftyReefer]

Live sand is a gimmick anyway. Once the bag is sealed up, whatever was in it dies.
it's fine to use, just be sure to rinse it first.

 

[jDoSe]

+1 just rinse well and use.
It wasn’t really ever live. Just add a bottled bacteria and it’s 100x better than what was in the bag, even before it “expired”.

Personally, I wouldn’t want a single drop of that liquid getting in my tank. I only buy dry sand.

 

[Idech]

I rinsed my live sand for what seemed like hours. I didn’t want any of that liquid in my tank. I only bought it because the LFS was out of dry sand.

 

[katsreef]

Thanks for the suggestions! I was going to add bottled bacteria anyways so maybe it was never entirely worth getting haha

 

[MnFish1]

I bought some "live" Caribsea Special Grade Reef sand 20 pound of Amazon for my nano tank that I am setting up. Well the expiration date is 04/2022 and unfortunately it is 09/2022... They also removed prime off of the product so even if I get them to send me another I would have to wait an estimated month when this time I only waited a few days. I was planning on setting my tank up in a few days. Do I return the product?

I would not worry about it. BUT - I would probably add some more bacteria - and watch the ammonia perhaps a little more carefully. I would definitely use it.

 

[landlubber]

there's a strong chance most of what made it live sand to begin with was dead anyway. i've yet to see any information that proves live sand offers any benefit that separates it from regular old sand.

 

[Rmckoy]

there's a strong chance most of what made it live sand to begin with was dead anyway. i've yet to see any information that proves live sand offers any benefit that separates it from regular old sand.

By the time it’s added to the tank , cycled it will all become live .
old detritus is 90% of the issue . Where new sand the main issue is dust and possibly diatoms outbreak which is also short lived

 

[Dburr1014]

I bought some "live" Caribsea Special Grade Reef sand 20 pound of Amazon for my nano tank that I am setting up. Well the expiration date is 04/2022 and unfortunately it is 09/2022... They also removed prime off of the product so even if I get them to send me another I would have to wait an estimated month when this time I only waited a few days. I was planning on setting my tank up in a few days. Do I return the product?

It was live, the day they bagged it.
Drop it in a bucket and rinse it, and rinse it, and rinse it. When there is no more cloud, rinse it again and then final rinse in rodi.

 

[katsreef]

I would not worry about it. BUT - I would probably add some more bacteria - and watch the ammonia perhaps a little more carefully. I would definitely use it.

Add some more bacteria like dr. tims wise? I will definitely as I am using the dry life rocks from caribsea to aquascape.

 

[Bucs20fan]

fritz turbo start is amazing stuff. Its a little pricey, but your LFS should have it in their refridgerated section.

 

[landlubber]

adding bacteria in a bottle to any system starting, or undergoing a huge change like a move is always a good idea. go for it!

 

[minus9]

If there's no mold in the bag, then I wouldn't waste any time rinsing it and just put it in. That stuff is always cloudy and usually takes a couple days to clear up anyway, so rinsing it will have no benefit in my book. But I'm pretty cavalier about these things. You're going to throw in a bunch of bacteria, so you may have a little extra fuel to get started. I would also suggest using PNS substrate sauce along with your preferred bacteria. It comes with a little PO4 to kick things into gear.
If I had a bag that had mold in it, I would just bleach it for a day, rinse, let dry in the sun, rinse with RO and dump it in, which is what I did with my old sand from my reboot.