Cycling live rock.. Need to cycle live sand??

[roper512]

Hey all, quick question..

I was planning on cycling live rock in a seperate Rubbermaid Brute container.. If I were to buy live sand after the rock was done cycling, then put the live sand in the tank and live rock, will this require an additional cycle from the bacteria in the sand? Or is this not as big of an issue as it is with live rock?

The sand I was planning on getting is caribsea aragalive sand (oolite).

Thanks

 

[WaterKeeper]

No cycle as that is not true LS but sand with cultured bacteria. I'm not sure if it is worth the price and you'll find you probably will end up needing some true LS to seed it. Even then, as sand is shipped wet,there is not the same type of dieoff as there is on LR. So there is only a small amount upset from the addition if any at all.

 

[roper512]

Thanks much waterkeeper

Is it critical I seed the sand with "real" live sand? Or is it okay as long as I'm adding live rock to the tank will that seed the sand?

 

[TekCat]

LR will seed dead sand with bacteria and whatever comes out of the LR (pods maybe), hitchhiker worms, crabs, etc... To get variety of sand organisms it is best to add cup of sand from as many different established tanks as possible.

 

[roper512]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6633302#post6633302 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TekCat
LR will seed dead sand with bacteria and whatever comes out of the LR (pods maybe), hitchhiker worms, crabs, etc... To get variety of sand organisms it is best to add cup of sand from as many different established tanks as possible.

Hmm. would that also introduce the other tanks problems as well? Like algae and stuff?

 

[cato]

My question too.

 

[TekCat]

I would not worry about algae. It'll be always there. Unless you cook you LR they hold various algae spores anyway.

However! Along with good stuff you could introduce bad things like parasites, flatworms, etc... So, check out potential donors ask questions, etc...


-- edit --
not long ago, I got a cup of LS that had flatworms ... in short I won the battle, but that cup brought me also new pods, worms, and some other things that live in sand that I have no idea what they are

 

[roper512]

Cool I checked out billsreef.com and he seems to be getting a lot of praise on these forums for his livesand.. I think I will order some of his and mix it in with plain aragonite sand

Thanks!

 

[SerLunchbox]

i am in agreeance with the formentioned advice of getting some LS from various people ... it is the best thing i have heard of doing when starting up

 

[WaterKeeper]

Diversity is fostered by having multiple sources for the LS. LS is more than bacteria. You want bristle worms, nematodes, "pods" mini-stars and cukes that keep the bed stirred and help consume dead and dying bacteria. If your sand source is questionable you can quarantine it for a month of so. Usually in that time pathogenic organisms will disappear.

The other route to go is to buy a detrivore kit from an on-line supplier. IMO, that is not as good as true LS but it is better than sand that only has cultured bacteria.