Live sand???

[ugluk]

I purchased some live sand off of ebay which was shipped to me on Monday. Just got it today and the sand is cold to the touch. I live in Philadelphia and there has been a lot of snow and ice over the last couple of days. I tried checking it out to see if it is still live but it just looks like sand to me. How can I tell if the sand is still live or not. Is there anything I can do for it? I dont want to open it because I will probably end up returning it, they say there is free insurance. Thoughts?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...EWN:IT&viewitem=&item=150088399228&rd=1&rd=1.

 

[bertoni]

You could look at it with a microscope or magnifying glass to see whether there are actually any animals in it. That's about all that can be done.

 

[Reet15]

I also bought live sand off ebay - though not from the same place as you. It took them 2 weeks to deliver it and the boxes were beat to heck. After calling the shipper - they shipped out another 150 lbs but never picked up the first shipment. Sooo, after about 4 weeks, the sald was all used. If it doesn't have a foul odor, chances are its still good.

 

[ugluk]

I just stuck my digital thermometer into it and it registered at 64.5 degrees. It may be hard to believe but I do not have a sense of smell and I do not have a magnifying glass or microscope. So what do you think, should I give it a go and just dump it in (my live rock is already ordered and will be coming next week) or try to get it exchanged?

 

[SushiChef]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Dead sand becomes live sand soon enough, but if you feel that you've been ripped off then go ahead and try talking with the seller.

 

[kaihonu82]

maybe a stupid question...but you did request the heatpack and styrofoam box like they mentioned, yea? if you did and it arrived cold, i'd leave them neg feedback

 

[ugluk]

Not saying I got ripped off or trying to rip on the seller. Like I said there has been a lot of snow and ice around here so its been tougher to deliver and if the sand was sitting in the truck overnight or even for a long time during the day it would do bring down the temperature of the sand. The seller has no control over that. I'm sure if I ordered this during the summer it wouldnt be much of a problem but I am just trying to find out if when the sand gets down to 65 degrees if everything that was living in it would die. If so I would try and return it for new live sand. Just trying to make the best of the situation.

 

[kaihonu82]

well the sand is definitely still useable...if you're worried about having dead stuff, rinse it a few times..... like SushiChef said, all sand is live sand after some time