I think this makes a lot of sense. If I already had ocean substrate from indonesia, I certainly wouldn't pay for the bacteria caribsea can keep alive in a bag of sand.
Since I'm about to be making a diving trip to The Philippines for a week to shoot dive videos for my new YouTube channel and take photos for the articles I write, I'll set the wifi controlled light I have on the tank to only come on for short periods each day while I'm gone. Im adding the sand tomorrow so the tank can have a week to do what it naturally will. Does 4 hours of light per day at a low intensity sound like it'll help? Ill have my friend visiting and giving me updates as well as dosing a little phyto for the microfauna to feed on daily and the gobies will go in the tank about a week after I get back. Nutrients won't be very high since the phyto is live and during that week no other nutrient sources will be added.
Exactly! I already have copepods and amphipods climbing the glass and the rock came with other microfauna as well! I think the dry coral rubble will also help grow a sizeable copepod and amphipod population as well since it adds even more structure to the build which they can take refuge in. Like I mentioned earlier, I've also been adding small doses of live phyto nightly.
I would not hesitate to grab a handful from a nice beach or underwater location near growing corals, especially since TBS isn't willing to ship.
Thats always been my goal as well. However, this particular setup is a breeding tank. My only fear of using natural live sand would be possible egg eating organisms being present (I know the chances of that are slim but I probably wont risk it aside from seeding the dry sand with a handful and mixing it in possibly).
For what you are doing, biodiversity in sand is not particularly useful unless used as a food source for fish larvae.
Well I'll be adding some corals as well. You mentioned you keep NPS. NPS corals are actually some of my favorite in the hobby, particularly black sun corals which Ive kept a few of. I actually enjoy feeding each polyp a small piece of mysis daily.
www.kpaquatics.com
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Local sand from pristine waters would be my choice being one is hoping to retrieve more than just bottled bacteria which appears to be AF approach but not sure about the other so called live sand options that are packaged and warehoused and sent through trucks that likely have temps over 130 degrees although bottled bacteria likely handled similarly and from experience know they can cycle a tank quickly. Perhaps the bacteria can handle higher temps then shipping and warehousing would exposed them to. Plus are those just bottled bacteria or actual ocean bacteria which would be more diversified
Agree 100%...Bangkok isnt close enough to the ocean to carry back several kilograms of sand though but a handful or two would be more than enough mixed into the other sandLocal sand from pristine waters would be my choice being one is hoping to retrieve more than just bottled bacteria which appears to be AF approach but not sure about the other so called live sand options that are packaged and warehoused and sent through trucks that likely have temps over 130 degrees although bottled bacteria likely handled similarly and from experience know they can cycle a tank quickly. Perhaps the bacteria can handle higher temps then shipping and warehousing would exposed them to. Plus are those just bottled bacteria or actual ocean bacteria which would be more diversified
I'm considering sand from Tampa Bay added through a fluidized sand bed filter to seed the tank thereby allowing me to use dry rock and preferred sand or crush coral as desired. Sand will contain considerably more life than rocks as far as bacteria and that which would survive being in a filter therefore less needed. This might be a solution for you if accessing enough to fill a tank not an option. Likely takes considerably longer to seed the tank but it's a better start than than dry sand or that packaged.
I plan to experiment at first by adding small doses of Zeovit Zeofood in order to build biofilm to colonize the tank surfaces not already covered in bacteria such as the sand bed and tank surfaces. By doing that the goal (and experiment) is to inhibit opportunities for unwanted algal species to take root quickly. Im not starting it completely oligotrophic but adding nutrients and phytoplankton fkr the bacteria to feed on. The rocks no doubt had some bacterioplankton on them which are now multiplying in the water column already as well, just like corals add. However, unlike aquacultured corals, those rocks have many bacterial strains that wouldnt normally be found in aquaculture tanks (unless the shop is adding natural rock or wild corals to the tank).
This is what I meant by accessing ocean sourced and why I'm considering replacing sand from ocean source periodically as I don't know if all beneficial strains survive captivity.
Youre completely right that not all bacteria survive, partially because of competition between different strains. Id definitely believe replenishment from time to time would reintroduce strains whose populations are highly depleted or have completely been outcompeted.
It's not that we aren't willing to ship to Bangkok, it's a matter of permitting.I would not hesitate to grab a handful from a nice beach or underwater location near growing corals, especially since TBS isn't willing to ship.
Actually, I think it would be safer for the ecosystem to grab local and prevent outside introductions to where you are at.
No judgement, just thinking out loud.
I’m not assigning blame to anyone in the supply chain. We all have to conform to the rules or suffer consequences which for businesses are not worth the cost of doing business.
