Can i get my "Live Sand" from the ocean?

[buggapimp5.0]

I may have the wrong forum, but i would consider Live Sand filtration more than anything, right?

So in a nutshell, i am piecing together my 90 Gallon setup from scratch as a heavy Do it yourselfer. Now, in building my plan, i need approximatley 270lbs of sand to cover a 6" surface in my display tank only. In doing some research, 10 lb bags of Live sand at my local pet shops is in the area of approximatley $20.00USD.

simple math: 270lb / 10lb = 27 bags

27 bags x $20.00USD = $540.00USD!

Now, a buddy of mine has a boat, and we live off of Miami Beach, wouldn't i just be able to dive out into the ocean (To avoid oil and impurity collection at the shore lines of our fabulous beaches) and bring home the "live sand."

Would i get the same bacteria and infauna that exists in cultivated live sand?

Perhaps i can do a 50/50 mix?

Does anyone have any suggestions for this DIY live sand dilemna.

LOL thanks in advance to all who read/post.



:bum:

 

[mokeyz]

I don't see why not - but transporting that much sand on a dive is going to be very hard work. Also, I suggest you get that sand into your tank ASAP - and perhaps aerate it on the boat.

 

[dynamixone]

and prepare for pest city!

 

[HawaiianTank]

or you can just buy the regular sand or crushed coral and then add some live sand to seed the rest of the sand. you only really need a handfull of live sand to start the process.

 

[LNell]

As for pests, you could keep the tank without coral or fish for about 6 months. I think (I'm by no means an expert on this) that by that time, the pests that host/feed on fish/coral would die off.

 

[Jasontkd]

I would say not to do it. As you just stated, there are several pollutants in the ocean, and they are not only on the shore line. There could be any number of things in the sand, and you would have no way of knowing. Also, the hitchikers that you would get could be detrimental. Bringing sand from the ocean brings with it parsites, organics, unwanted pests, etc, etc...

although it is expensive, it is much safer to deal with sand that you can be sure is clear of impurities that are going to wreck your future success.

 

[BeanAnimal]

There is no need to purchase that much live sand OR live rock. Dry sand and base rock can be used to setup most of the habitat. Simply seed the system with a cup of sand or two from local tanks (or the LFS) and add a few pounds of cured LR from the same tanks or LFS. Before you know it the all of the rock and sand will be "live".

Bean

 

[jeffgp]

whay do you need a 6 in sand bed.. i have about 2-3 and that alot ...

 

[buggapimp5.0]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12129671#post12129671 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffgp
whay do you need a 6 in sand bed.. i have about 2-3 and that alot ...

My understanding is a 6" DSB leads to a good natural filtration system. Am i misunderstood?

 

[jeffgp]

a good sump/refg/skimmer is the best is my mind ...
i have a 90 and couldent think of have that much sand .. it will take away from the tank

the DSB is old school

 

[buggapimp5.0]

Jeff are you happy with your 3" sandbed.

 

[Icefire]

DSB isn't old school, plenum is.

DSB remove nitrate by creating oxygen poor zone.

a 3" sand bed on other hand can create nitrate.

Normaly go 1" or 5"+.

I would use it, if you are away from the shore and the sand is white, I would do it. Not worst than TBS rocks

 

[BeanAnimal]

TBS rock...

would not use that either. Why deal with all the pests?

 

[manuel n]

so, if you arent going to put any fresh live sand you collected by yourself in the tank, then how can you put liverock into it? it is just the same story.
i dont see a problem in using plenty of self collected sand, it is even much fresher and has more diversity of live in it.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Many of us don't fill the tank up with "live rock" we use dry base rock and it soon becomes live rock, the same with the sand.

Diversity is somewhat misleading. Most of our tanks have the same stuff in them. The stuff the will thrive sticks around and the rest of it dies off. When you trade corals, rock, etc with other reefers, the stuff that thrives gets transferred as well.

I am not sure the term "fresh" applies here. In reality you will likely get more pests and contaminates than you will "diversity". Why deal with it when you could easily SEED dry sand with a cup of sand from another system (or the ocean). You will end with the same diversity and much less trouble.

The "fresh" sand will also have a significant die off in your new captive setup. why deal with that?

There are plenty of reasons why it is not a good idea, and very few reasons that it is a good idea.

 

[hllywd]

Wow buggapimp5.0 it gets confusing when you start the same thread twice... I agree with Bean to a point here on the pest issue. I got my TBS liverock (about 60 lbs worth) practically from the source and brought it back to Ohio. There was a lot of die off of things I didn't want in the my tank but also some of the crabs survived and it took a long time to get rid of them, I doubt the sand would be much different. I've been diving in the area and find it difficult to think you'd get much more pollution than you would from the production processes involved with store bought sand if you used some discretion about your collection site. I mean people regularly eat the lobster and fish caught in the same areas and there are no health bulletins about that...

On the other hand, like I said in your other thread there are other packaged sands such as the Kolorscape I used for a couple bucks a bag. The store bought live sand has simply been seeded with nitrifying bacteria and you shouldn't expect to see micro stars or worms or the like in it. Personally, IME, if you start with dry sand and ad even a small piece of live rock or small amount of live sand you'll end up with the same thing. Like Bean said dry base rock is the same way, this is what I started with in my 120...

Added another 50lbs or so of LR I already had to make this...

Dry base rock is a whole lot cheaper too.
Bottom line is I think whether or not you use collected sand is entirely your choice just be aware of these opinions when you do...

Tim

 

[danceswithfish]

Live sand sold at the store is a gimmick. You don't need it. I would get the sand you need for the ocean.

Some argue that there is polution or pests in sand you collect yourself. Where do they think live sand and dry sand at the store comes from. The ocean.

If you decide against getting sand from the ocean (I don't know why you would) I would buy dry sand and and add a little from another reefers tank to seed it.

 

[kuhli]

I've no reef experience but you could attempt to gas the substrate to the point where you'd kill everything off. Hook your CO2 up to it, push the pH down to 5 for a week or two, stir occasionally to ensure there's no oxygen pockets left. You'd have to think this would kill the majority of things off.

What do you think?

 

[madmax7774]

I seeded my AGA 110G tall tank's southdown sandbed with a spaghetti sauce jar of sand that I took from a reef off the coast of Puerto Rico when I vacationed there 2 years ago. Since then I have added another jar full of sand from a South Carolina beach, and a Florida beach. Never once have I had a problem with doing this. I consider my tank to be very well populated with a diverse range of small critters from the sea. If you do this, gt as far away from shore as you can to scoop the sand, so you don't get any weird contaminants. I can't speak to the legality of it, but I doubt taking 1 jarful of sand is going to be a big deal.

 

[buggapimp5.0]

thanks for the help ya'll.