Dry Sand, did I goof?

[dinotrex]

I bought 50lbs of dry sand and now i'm reading that I should have gotten live sand instead!!! So needless to say I'm panicing a little, I haven't put the dry sand in my tank yet, but I want to use it since I bought it already. Can my tank survive with the dry sand? or should I get maybe 10lbs of live sand and put it together with the dry sand? I'd perfer to stick with what I have already so am I just overreacting?

 

[WarOrks15]

how long has the tank been up? if it is a new tnk put in the dry sand. if it is a tank that has been up for some time put the dry sand in a buket with some salt water and then add soem shrimp to make it live sand then add it to the tank.

 

[sumphead]

First of all what kind of dry sand did you get and where did you get it? Dry sand isn't bad at all. Dry sand will become live sand in due time under the right conditions. Also just so we are clear, are you referring to "live sand" sold in bags? If so then you definately did the right thing. Other than some bacteria that may or may not be on the bagged stuff it is little more than wet sand. True live sand not only has denitrifying bacteria it also has life. As in copepods/amphipods, worms. You know "critters" the best place for live sand is out of an established tank. There are several more people that will chime in here...

R-

 

[dinotrex]

It's a new tank, nothing cycled yet, no water or fish yet...... I haven't opened the bag yet, but it's in a dry brown 50 pound bag so there's no way it's wet in any way shape or form.

But from what i'm reading from your responses is that i'm ok.... just keep the sand i have and let the cocktail shrimp do it's thing when I'm cycling the tank. Sounds good, so no need to buy "livesand" that comes in a plastic bag with water in it.

Does this sound about right? I'm still a newbie so if i'm wrong, i can take the criticism, lol.

 

[Biggen]

Using "dry" sand is fine. That is what I used. Like sumphead said, it will become live over time if there is LR in the system.

Sounds good, so no need to buy "livesand" that comes in a plastic bag with water in it.

That isn't live at all. I think there is a vocabulary problem with what we (hobbyist) call LS and what certain manufacturers call LS.

When I think of LS, I think of sand that is totaly full of infauna, worms, bugs, and bacteria. Basically it is critter heaven. This is the kind of sand that most all reef tanks have. Either they purchased it like this from the LFS in their LS or coral tanks and brought it home in buckets, or the LR in their tank basically seeded the sand (what you call "dry") and turned it into LS.

What certain manufactures call LS, is sand that is bagged up and contains none of the critters I spoke about. They simply call it LS because they claim it has the bacteria on it which take care of nitrification. The only problem with this is that it can't be alive since there is:

1. No water in the bag to keep the bacteria alive.

AND

2. No food source for the bacteria live off of.

IMO, its a joke and a waste of money. I can't believe they even try to market this stuff.

 

[Wally]

Hey biggen, Ive seen "live sand" for sale that somes in plastic bags with water in it. I bought one when first starting out. Its one of the many things I did at the begining that cost me money and gave me no result. At the time I put it in the tank I already had 60 lbs of live rock in there.

 

[Biggen]

Hey biggen, Ive seen "live sand" for sale that somes in plastic bags with water in it. I bought one when first starting out. Its one of the many things I did at the begining that cost me money and gave me no result. At the time I put it in the tank I already had 60 lbs of live rock in there.

Exactly. Just plain junk. You had water in the bag?? Caribsea sells it without water. I think it is damp, but there is no standing water in the bag at all.

 

[Wally]

Sure wish I could have all the money back that I spent needlessly on this hobby. I could buy some really nice corals or heck a new metal halide light fixture.

 

[XXFirefighter]

We should get a place together where we can "donate" or sell live sand from our tanks to the new guys tans... I'm sure live sind in a tupperware container would survice a fex ex over night shipment...

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I think so, that is one great reason to join your local forum. Put up a thread and swap a cup of new sand for a cup of their old sand.

 

[cmor1701d]

I bought 50lbs of dry sand

Where did you buy the sand? Is there a brand name on the bag? Is it sugar sized granules?
Is it aragonite or silica based?

Adding LR or LS will seed the dry sand with infauna. Adding the cocktail shrimp will start the nitrogen cycle needed to coat the sand and make it LS which will help it settle.

How big a tank do you have? It sounds like you are going with a SSB.
Do you have or are you thinking about adding a sump or refugium?

Try detailing your planned set-up in this or a new post and ask for opinions. Learn from the mistakes the rest of us have made. Plan out what you want your tank to look like, post that and your ideas of what equipment you think you need or already have, your lighting, the livestock you would like to keep and ask for opinions on all of it.

HTH,