making live sand question

[Holmie_D_Klown]

I'm changing the crushed coral to a DSB in my 120g. I have 200lbs of aragonite dry sand mixed with 40 lbs live sand in food-grade trash can with a heater and powerhead. I dropped a cocktail shrimp in there to let it cycle. So, am I missing anything? Should I expect it to cycle about a month or can I start taking the surface sand out every week and replacing the CC little by little? Any advise from those that have done this before would be appreciated.

 

[PatMayo]

I think you are wasting your time. Live sand is typcially just an acronym for bugs in the sand that only get there via live rock. I don't think this process you are going through is worth the effort. If it were me I would just take out the CC and get the sand in the tank. If you have live rock in your tank the sand will become live in no time. Also you can buy a kit online that has the necessary animals in it to make your sand live in much quicker fashion than the method you are using.

There are others that will chime in who have much more experience than I in this realm and they can clarify more.

Anyway, that is what I would do.

Regards,

Pat

 

[Holmie_D_Klown]

Thanks for the input. I was also considering just replacing the CC little by little in the tank without making it "live".

If I put some of my CC temporarily with my cycling aragonite, I may be able to seed the sand with my live CC. I don't necessarily care how quick it becomes live, just that it does when I introduce it into my tank.

 

[Silverado]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6777410#post6777410 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PatMayo
I think you are wasting your time. Live sand is typcially just an acronym for bugs in the sand that only get there via live rock. I don't think this process you are going through is worth the effort. If it were me I would just take out the CC and get the sand in the tank. If you have live rock in your tank the sand will become live in no time. Also you can buy a kit online that has the necessary animals in it to make your sand live in much quicker fashion than the method you are using.

There are others that will chime in who have much more experience than I in this realm and they can clarify more.

Anyway, that is what I would do.

Regards,

Pat

Where can I buy this package. I have been looking for it, but I can't seem to find it.

I just changed my tank to a DSB and I am looking to seed the DSB.

Thank you for your help

 

[bertoni]

I would look at getting some real live sand (not cheap) from a good vendor. BillsReef.com has gotten some good reviews. For other animals, I like the detritivore and refugium fauna kits from InlandAquatics.com and similar animals from ipsf.com. There are other vendors as well.