LR & LS Questions......

[Jman521]

This is something that I dove into when I set up my first tank, which I no longer have . Now that I've decided to set up a newer and smaller tank (approx. 24-30G) I'm going to go a new route and put a lot more research into it before I start buying everything. I have some questions about the LS.....

1. When buying live sand, I've read several different threads........IS it ok to buy some kind of "Playground sand for the BED then add a few bags of LS on top of that to make it all live? Just thinking that might be a little less expensive, because making a Deep Sand bed can get expensive using all crushed coral, or Agronite etc...
2. Is it better to buy bags of live sand from 4 or 5 different sources ie: 4 different people on Ebay that are selling livesand from tanks they've had set up for years.....(I hear this will give a better diversity of organisms and bacteria that will be in your tank)


Ok, onto LR...........
1. I read somewhere that Buying Uncured LR is better because you can get it directly from the ocean and that there will be a more diverse group of organisms living on it which will in turn give you better and more variety in your tank itself.
2. If you buy uncured LR what is the difference in the Cycling process? Does it take longer? Are there Extra Steps?

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

With uncured live rock you get a lot of die off, but probably more biodiversity than cured liverock. If you are setting up a new aquarium, you might do well with uncured liverock so long as you are patient to wait on transfering or adding new organisms. Take the following steps:
1. Set up the new aquarium and have it ready to run with a protein skimmer for filtration.
2. Place the live rock and live sand in the aquarium (no need to aquascape at this point).
3. Run this system without lighting to avoid algal blooms for about a month. Perform frequent water changes (1-2 per week) and siphon off detritus.
4. Test the parameters of the system and do a massive water change.
5. Introduce livestock once it is stable.
This method should allow for the most biodiversity to thrive in your new system. After about a month your tank should be "cycled" and relatively stable. Some might even recommend letting the rock cure even longer in your system (2-3 months) in order to quarentine from harmful organisms. This would not be a bad idea if you are willing to take the time, but likely unneccesary.

Even "cured" live rock needs to go through some form of curing/quarentining process. You'd typically expect it to not take as long for the die-off to settle. However, this really depends upon the source of the live rock.

As far as the deep sand bed goes, you can use play sand with it. Aragonite is typically preferred to silicate sand for a variety of reasons (buffering capability, doesn't blow around as easy, etc.), but could certainly be mixed with other substrate varieties.