Your question is a little off base. You don't need all live sand because it's too expensive. You want to find a source of dry Pure Aragonite sand as it is shipped in from the Bahamas. Processed and bagged "live" sand is a joke in my humble opinion. Aerobic bacteria, the critter that gives "live" sand it's name, requires oxygen to live. Once the "live" bacteria are closed off in the bag, how long will oxygen be available to them? Until they consume it. After that, death comes quickly. Your "live" sand is only live for a short period of time. Buying it from a LFS, your likely to be buying dead "live" sand. Why? Because before your LFS received it, it sat in a warehouse, for how long? Do you get my point?
Your best bet is to find dry Pure Aragonite sand in it's original state and find a diver that offers real "live" sand collected and shipped from the ocean. For a source of Pure Aragonite sand from the Bahamas PM me and I will send you more information on a source and why Pure Bahamian Aragonite sand is the preferred substrate.
When you first set up a reef tank you don't even need live sand. Your LR will seed your sand bed in a short period of time, long before you are ready to add corals and fish. This is an expensive hobby. Save money where you can.
If you want to add live sand, top of with an inch of real "live" sand from the ocean. You'll get more than aerobic bacteria. You'll get marine worms (very important), mini stars and maybe some little clams and snails.
I hope this helps win over your fiancee to sand because CC is a disaster waiting to happen. The results of your poll should point out how wrong CC is. I commend you for having the fortitude to stand up for your belief and bring your question here to RS.
Dick
