real sand or sand in a bag

[justreefnmon]

Is it better to use sand from the beach or that live sand you can buy from the store? I live in Florida on west side. If i just put in the sand in a bag will i still have to let it cycle.? I have a tank that has been running for about a year with no sand and i am done with building my stand and drilling my rimless tank .lsmile: its nice i will post picks later. my comp is on the fritz. So can just add the sand to tank to that is all ready set up?
would that crash all my stuff?
i KNOW ITs alot of questions but i was just wondering....
well thanks guys and gals. yes i am addicted to corals:bouncer:

 

[redneckgearhead]

First I would find out if its legal to take sand from the beach, second I wouldnt recommend it. There could be parasites and other "hitchhikers" in the sand that you wouldnt want in your tank. I also wouldnt recommend the "live" sand in a bag. Most agree that while its fine to use, its a waste of money. Its been in that bag for a long time and most of the bacteria is dead. I would use dry agranite sand myself. You say that your tank has been running for a year but you state that your just now done building your stand and drilling your tank, so Im a little confused about that. Your tank will need to be cycled with your sand and Live rock in the tank. There are some posts on here that will explain the cycle. I hope I helped.

 

[scottsdale454ss]

Take the real sand, boil it in water for 3 hrs, let it cool and put it in the tank. Live sand is a sham (thats what i'd do anyway...if i had access to real sand)

 

[DaveK]

How big a tank are we talking about?

Unless it's a really large tank, your not going to save much money, and you could introduce a lot of problems. In most places, it is not legal to remove sand from the beach. Check your local regulations carefully, or else the sand you collect could be the most expensive you ever got.

I do agree, with the previous posters, use dry aragonite sand. If you can get the stuff that has bacteria on it for the same price then ok.

 

[seafansar]

Any sand you go with, remember to rinse it out really, really well or your tank will get very cloudy for a number of days. Easiest way is to put it in a bucket and spray it with a hose untill the water runs clear. If you do go with the sand at the beach, check your local rules and do something to it to kill anything bad in it like boiling it and rinsing it out with freshwater. And I'd just add a little at a time to make sure you don't cause a bad reaction to your system.

Also remember beaches act like the ocean's protein skimmer. All of the foam washed up on the beach has a lot of bad stuff in it, so it might raise your nitrates and phosphates.

 

[glampka]

The last place you want to get sand from is the beach. All the pollutants wash up there & you'd be putting them in your tank.

 

[justreefnmon]

well 1rst thanks for the advice oh i have a 20 gal that has been running for about a year. it has no sand. ya i am trying to cut down on the procrastination thing. new year turning over a new leaf. Were can i get dry agranite........ Is that the white play sand that is available at Home Depot?
so redneckgear head and others I should only introduce my live rock into the sand and let that cycle before I add my coral and fish? Its only a 40Gal display and 20 gal sump so total 60gal ...that i will be transferring over from 20gal to and since we are all reefaholics
I have:
5 assorted color acans
2 frogspawn 1 is just basic green 1 purple tip
1 large yellow scroll
1 large Spiny Cup Pectinia Coral
1 crocia clam
2 med candy cane
2 clowns
1 mandarin gobbie
1 cleaner shrimp

 

[redneckgearhead]

You can get the agronite sand at your local LFS. The "play" sand has silicate in it, I hear its not good for your tank. Im assuming you have live rock in your 20 gal. I would get some dry base rock (enought to equal the 1-2lbs per gallon) from your local LFS or one of the online vendors on this site. Put the dry rock in the bottom of the tank then the sand, saltwater, your live rock and then the live stock. If you get dry sand and dry base rock it shouldnt cause any cycle. I think that about covers all the bases, Im sure someone will chime in if Ive missed anything. Start a thread about your upgrade, with lots of pics!

 

[seafansar]

Oh I didn't know you were switching tanks. Yeah, you can get some dry sand, check at your LFS or online vendors, rinse it out really well. I'd add it to the new tank and any new dry rock you want to add and let the "dust" settle. Then add your liverock and corals from your old tank. I've switched tanks like this and never had a problem.

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

I've heard, I repeat, I've heard, and this hear say that beach sand has contaminated bacteria in it, which could be extremely hazardous to you livestock, not sure about this but it washes back to the ocean every time a wave passes, right????????????????? but the ocean is very large and can handle the relatively small amounts of undesirable bacteria. Anyways I've had the bag sand, not sure how good the quality of the bacteria is but I liked the Fiji Pink Reef Sand out of the bag fairly well, it looks good. But I've also had the 300 pounds of live reef sand from Fiji and it is very, very nice and very real, it also cost about $2500 dollars by the time you have it Air Freighted, but this was 10 years ago but unfortunately I no longer own it, and that really sucks, because once I had to move and asked my Dad to store it and he was just going to store my tanks in a close family's hay barn, no big deal right, well later I asked about my stuff and he replies it stunk and he had a worker throw the sand in a local creek and it was unrecoverable, well it was dead(no bacteria anyways) but that wasn't the point, he threw away Fiji reef sand that could have been reseeded, I stayed mad at him for years. Sorry about getting off topic at the end but the bag stuff is OK, but stay away from the beach as of legal problems to begin with, no matter what you have to have a license to collect legally, and the actual stuff Air Freighted is the absolute best one can get, in my opinion, very costly though.

 

[BLAKEJOHN]

Beach sand is the most contaminated sand you will ever find. Why?

Your skimmer cleans your tank water by utilizing small bubbles to attract doc's. The ocean has crashing waves that do this same thing. But the ocean's collection cup is the beach.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[dmatt88]

Quality lfs sand mixed variety is my preference. I put nothing live from the ocean in my tank. Ie Valdez n beers n people pee. Ill stick with the fake stuff.

Matts DROIDX via Tapatalk

 

[aquaman999]

I put lots of stuff from the ocean, including water. This increases biodiversity in our tanks, which increases stability. Parasites are usually introduced with the organism they are parasites to (like fish). The ocean DOES NOT need a water change.

Regards, Carlos

 

[DanaJ104]

I agree with everyone who says fake sand. Beach sand is definitely angerous to put in your tank. My lfs has a big tub of live sand with pumps to keep the bacteria alive in their live rock area. You could maybe check if anyone near you sells it that way if you really want live sand. Otherwise i would go with the dry stuff.

 

[Tru2nr]

Honestly I would go with dry sand...you can go to like fosters and smith and order some in 20-40lb bags for pretty cheap.

 

[Ssullivan]

you cant take sand from the beach in Florida no ifs ands or buts