My husband bought a bunch of aquarium items for me for my birthday, two of them are a 29g biocube and a big bag of 'live' sand. The sand is here, the cube should be here tuesday. I was wondering if I should put the sand in a tub with saltwater and aeration until the cube gets here. Would that be good for it, or should I just plan on rinsing it with saltwater when I am ready to put the tank together?
Working with bagged 'live' sand
- Thread starter Candymom
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Don't think it is neccesary to keep it in saltwater. Most people would recomend rinsing before putting sand in. It will cut down on coudiness. Live sand sometimes isn't as live as you think. Lol. But since you have it and since its only for a cube it isn't to costly. WELCOME TO AA
Thanks for the welcome! I can't wait to really get going.
Yeah, I wasn't too clear on my wording. I know that not much will be alive in the bagged sand. I just wondered if I should try to support what life is left in there, maybe evens start somewhat of a cycle, or just plan on rinsing out the dead stuff.
Yeah, I wasn't too clear on my wording. I know that not much will be alive in the bagged sand. I just wondered if I should try to support what life is left in there, maybe evens start somewhat of a cycle, or just plan on rinsing out the dead stuff.
XxVooDooxX
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I agree just give it a thorough rinse and I'm sure it will be fine
mr_X
Aquarium Advice Addict
if in fact the sand in that bag you have is "live", then i wouldn't rinse it at all. i would just put it right in the tank.
what i would do is rinse off the outside of the bag, then cut it open, and put the entire thing in the tank and when you get to the bottom, gently turn it over so it doesn't stir up much. that will limit the cloudiness.
the fact of the matter is, live sand (sand covered with beneficial bacteria) won't remain live for very long in a sealed bag. most of those bags don't even have expiration dates on them, so i wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to do anything more than a bag of dry sand would.
what i would do is rinse off the outside of the bag, then cut it open, and put the entire thing in the tank and when you get to the bottom, gently turn it over so it doesn't stir up much. that will limit the cloudiness.
the fact of the matter is, live sand (sand covered with beneficial bacteria) won't remain live for very long in a sealed bag. most of those bags don't even have expiration dates on them, so i wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to do anything more than a bag of dry sand would.
trackfast
Aquarium Advice Freak
When I used bagged live sand, I emptied it unto my tank without rinsing. If you rinsed it, I think you would be getting rid of what beneficial bacteria it contained.
Yeah, that was my thinking, wouldn't I just be washing away whatever is left that is still alive. Also, wouldn't whatever is dead just contribute to cycling?
My tank should be coming in the mail tomorrow. I've already got my saltwater mixing right now. I'm anxious to get the process moving. I'll be hucking a raw shrimp in there too. Hope it all goes smoothly.
My tank should be coming in the mail tomorrow. I've already got my saltwater mixing right now. I'm anxious to get the process moving. I'll be hucking a raw shrimp in there too. Hope it all goes smoothly.
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