I want to add some live sand into the my 180 gallon display/sump Caribsea ocean direct sand. I’m hoping to add micro fauna and bacterial diversity. As the topic name states. Should I quarantine the sand? Quarantining everything wet? How long does it sit? How long has it been in the bag? Does that time count as quarantine and does that defeat the purpose of post quarantine once open?
Quarantine sand??
- Thread starter gonzo620
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smartwater101
Valuable Member
Never head of QTing sand. Dont see why you ever need to do so. You certainly wouldn't medicate. Just rinse and use. No need to worry about it. (I dont even rinse)
C. Eymann
2500 Club Member
No, bagged live sand is fine without QT, it's most likely been sitting for months in the bag, no hosts for parasites to continue their lifecycles , also I do believe carib sea sterilizes all their live sand, then adds specific cultured bacteria etc. etc. If it was real deal straight from the ocean, its self life would be terrible and it would reek by the time it got to you.
bluprntguy
Well-Known Member
Oceans direct live sand is sand taken from the ocean somewhere and they claim to somehow encapsulate the sand particles so that all the bacteria from the ocean is preserved. It's different than most live sand which is usually just dry sand treated with bottled bacteria packed with a little water.
I was a little concerned about putting oceans direct live sand in my tank. I reached out the them and got this response:
"Ocean Direct is outside of it's aquatic environment long enough to ensure that no pathogens are able to survive its processing and packaging. I hope this helps you to make your decision. If you still have doubts our Arag-Alive line is dried and processed differently. It is also much cleaner with little or no dust making it easier to use in an existing tank."
I ended up using the Oceans Direct sand in my established tank, but I did let the bag sit in my house another couple of weeks. I assumed that is was probably shipped via boat for a few weeks, then sat at the LFS for at least a few weeks, and then sat at home for a few weeks. That should have been enough time for anything to die.
I was a little concerned about putting oceans direct live sand in my tank. I reached out the them and got this response:
"Ocean Direct is outside of it's aquatic environment long enough to ensure that no pathogens are able to survive its processing and packaging. I hope this helps you to make your decision. If you still have doubts our Arag-Alive line is dried and processed differently. It is also much cleaner with little or no dust making it easier to use in an existing tank."
I ended up using the Oceans Direct sand in my established tank, but I did let the bag sit in my house another couple of weeks. I assumed that is was probably shipped via boat for a few weeks, then sat at the LFS for at least a few weeks, and then sat at home for a few weeks. That should have been enough time for anything to die.
