live sand alternative?

[thetonyage]

well i have about 100 lbs of LR on its way and im pretty much ready to start up my 125 reef tank. one thing ive been trying to figure out is this live sand thing. i know that regular pool filter sand wont work, and the cost of live sand is a little out of my budget since ive got the LR, what are the alternatives if any?

 

[Hydrocephalus]

I think live sand is a waste of money, its not really ocean life, live sand, just the usual bagged sand with water and some bacteria added, youll get plenty of that from the LR. Substrate choice is better arrived at by "type" of sandbed you want, just a scatter on the bottom or a full 6 inches and whatever you prefer in between, I would recommend some eggcrate go down first to protect the bottom of the tank

 

[melosu58]

Some dry aragonite sand would work just as good. It will become live over time.

 

[Zer0]

Well, bagged(live sand) may be live when they first package it and retail it.. but over time as the bagged sand sits around on shelf-life, all living matter dies off because of temperature changes, handling, etc.. So when you buy the "live sand," you're actually buying sand with dead things in it. lol.

As it was previously said, you are better off buying dry aragonite sand and starting off nice and clean. Over time, the things living in the live rock you bought will begin to inhabit the sand and then it will become "live". It will take a while though for your sand to be considered completely "live" so we shouldn't be expecting any miracles lol. But all in all, you'll see over time that it was in your best interest to just start off with new fresh sand. Good Luck!

 

[baldyguy]

totally agree on the live sand fact all I have is an inch or so around the bottom for decoration rather than offering any benefit to the tank..............