live sand life

[robszar]

i just upgrade my tank and got some sand with it. I took out my sand and put it in a bucket, will it go bad (or is it already)? if so when?

 

[acwilson]

It will be fine if its in a bucket with water and a powerhead for a long time... If its dry, I'd give it only a few days.

 

[robszar]

it's in a 5 gallon bucket about 3/4 full. there is water in there but not much... no powerhead.

stores sell LS in a bag though with a little water in it, does that go bad?

 

[Blown 346]

I would avoid the livesand in bags, In my view its a joke. You would be better off getting some dry base aragamax sand which will be cheaper than the so called livesand, and just waiting for that to become live with your liverock. It will become live on its own.

 

[Cfused]

where would I get dry base aragamax sand>?

 

[dzeadow]

i just bought a bag of it at petsmart not too long ago.

 

[RichardScottRice]

I agree with Blown 346. Live sand contains both micro and macro fauna. The micro fauna is mostly in the form of anaerobic bacteria much of which is mostly destroyed when you expose it to oxygen. The macro fauna are all the worms, pods and other inverts that live on and in the sand. Like any other invert they require water and oxygen to survive. If you put them in a contaner with no water circulation all of the ones except at the sand surface where there is some oxygen exchange will die. If you put them in a sealed container such as a plastic bag they will all eventually die. Best to go get some new aragamax sand and "borrow" a cup of sand from a buddy who has a healthy reef tank to seed it with life.

 

[acwilson]

I third that motion... you can get dry aragonite from any respectable fish store.