Which Live Sand?

[livinlifeinBKK]

Im thinking about either Oceans Direct Live Sand or Aquaforest's Bio Sand that you have to add the bacteria to and wait 24 hours for my tank...does anyone know what bacterial strains each have and if one is preferable in that sense? Also, would dry sand likely increase the odds of "the uglies"? Id like to avoid that... @taricha this sounds like something you might have knowledge about...

 

[Mr Fishface]

If you're looking for truly live sand, Tampa bay saltwater has live sand from the ocean that ships to either a nearest airport or your door. Depends on how much you order. It's beautiful and full of life and critters. I highly recommend!

 

[TBSB2019]

I picked up some yesterday from Tampa Bay Saltwater and now wish I would have just done it all. Lots of crushed shell, etc. Like going to some of the local beaches.

 

[UMALUM]

TBS ships to Thailand?

 

[TBSB2019]

TBS ships to Thailand?

Oops. Didn't see that. Might ask but I doubt it.......

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

TBS definitely wouldnt ship here haha...however, I can get a handful of sand from one of the islands here or while visiting the Philippines to seed it later...id prefer not to have to though

 

[UMALUM]

You could start with dry and put your feelers out to try and score a couple cups from a fellow hobbyist.

 

[TBSB2019]

TBS definitely wouldnt ship here haha...however, I can get a handful of sand from one of the islands here or while visiting the Philippines to seed it later...id prefer not to have to though

Just watch your local laws. I know here, it is against the law to do that. Our wildlife law enforcement are pretty tough on it.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Just watch your local laws. I know here, it is against the law to do that. Our wildlife law enforcement are pretty tough on it.

True...id have to check first...i have natural live rock directly imported from the ocean so that should definitely help...i just dont know about the sand bed...i really would prefer to avoid algal growth from it being sterile.

Collecting a little water for the bacterioplankton wouldnt be an issue, but thats on a different note.

 

[TBSB2019]

True...id have to check first...i have natural live rock directly imported from the ocean so that should definitely help...i just dont know about the sand bed...i really would prefer to avoid algal growth from it being sterile.

Collecting a little water for the bacterioplankton wouldnt be an issue, but thats on a different note.

Starting with true live rock you should have slim to none. When we upgraded from our 72 to our 180, I reused all the rock that was in the 72 with additional rock and fresh new carib sea live sand and had about 2 weeks at most of light algea growth.

 

[UMALUM]

True...id have to check first...i have natural live rock directly imported from the ocean so that should definitely help...i just dont know about the sand bed...i really would prefer to avoid algal growth from it being sterile.

Collecting a little water for the bacterioplankton wouldnt be an issue, but thats on a different note.

Good quality rock will have the sand seeded in no time. Maybe a splash of diatom initially but I doubt it.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Sounds like I can save a lot of money then just going with dry sand since I have true ocean harvested live rock...ive just never used dry sand which is why I was wondering

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im thinking about either Oceans Direct Live Sand or Aquaforest's Bio Sand that you have to add the bacteria to and wait 24 hours for my tank...does anyone know what bacterial strains each have and if one is preferable in that sense? Also, would dry sand likely increase the odds of "the uglies"? Id like to avoid that... @taricha this sounds like something you might have knowledge about...

Ive used ocean direct and Carib sea with great results

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If anyone wants to read about how the tank is being set up, i detailed it here (updated today):

Goby Breeding Tips (Greissinger Gobies)

Ok, I decided to take a serious approach to attempting to breed Greissinger Gobies. I have a shop thats going to order 2 or 3 from the supplier for me which is great because it means Ill be able to get them as soon as they arrive in good health. The breeding tank will be 20 gallons and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Also, I plan to stock the breeding tank with a few Acros and other corals. I generally use Accurasea 1 Salt but saw this AF Reef Salt +. It has higher parameters such as alkalinity, calcium, mag, etc. Since its about the same price I was consodering switching to it. Any observations or thoughts on this salt? The only unique thing about it is the higher parameters but its practically the same price as what I spend now.
Heres a comparison...the salt in question is in the middle to the right side.

 

[slingfox]

I have used the live sand from both CaribSea as well as Aquaforest. I don't believe any of these bottled bacteria oriented sands compare to the sand from the ocean but can are okay for what they are. Between Caribsea and Aquaforest I much prefer the AF Biosand since the bottled bacteria is packaged in separate containers which means you can thoroughly rinse the sand before adding the bacteria to the sand.

If you are going the bottled bacteria live sand route you may want to just get the sand and the bottled bacteria separately. That allows you to select the specific sand you want. I have used three types of sand in my reef tank. AF Biosand is my favorite because it is gleeming white and does not get blown around much in my high flow tank even though it is small grain size.

 

[taricha]

Im thinking about either Oceans Direct Live Sand or Aquaforest's Bio Sand that you have to add the bacteria to and wait 24 hours for my tank...does anyone know what bacterial strains each have and if one is preferable in that sense? Also, would dry sand likely increase the odds of "the uglies"? Id like to avoid that... @taricha this sounds like something you might have knowledge about...

I can only speak about the nitrifying properties.
Caribsea OceanDirect live sand was a fast nitrifying product. Cleared ammonia and nitrite quickly. AF bottled cycling product did not do anything detectable to ammonia.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I can only speak about the nitrifying properties.
Caribsea OceanDirect live sand was a fast nitrifying product. Cleared ammonia and nitrite quickly. AF bottled cycling product did not do anything detectable to ammonia.

Since the rock I have is natural, ocean harvested rock from Indonesia, do you think dry sand would be just fine? Not only would it save a lot of money but I feel there likely isnt much bacterial diversity in bags of live sand aside from a few nitrifying strains. (I dont have evidence of this, however.) Id imagine the bacteria on the live ocean rocks will spread fairly rapidly. Do you think dry sand will give me an "ugly phase" though? Ive always used live sand, never dry before.

 

[slingfox]

Since the rock I have is natural, ocean harvested rock from Indonesia, do you think dry sand would be just fine? Not only would it save a lot of money but I feel there likely isnt much bacterial diversity in bags of live sand aside from a few nitrifying strains. (I dont have evidence of this, however.) Id imagine the bacteria on the live ocean rocks will spread fairly rapidly. Do you think dry sand will give me an "ugly phase" though? Ive always used live sand, never dry before.

If you have rock straight from the ocean, I don't believe you would get much incremental value from live sand. You should focus on getting the sand that looks the best and suits the kind of tank you want to run.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

If you have rock straight from the ocean, I don't believe you would get much incremental value from live sand. You should focus on getting the sand that looks the best and suits the kind of tank you want to run.

I just ordered some dry sand! The tank is going to be an attempt to breed Greissinger Gobies so Im using some crushed coral as well since I want the tank to be as close to their natural habitat as possible. I started a thread on it if you want to check it out...