Can I use the live sand I had in garbage bag for 2 weeks?

cain420

cain420

Active Member
Okay, so when I first went to hook up the fuge, I filled it with the sand and water and of course the plastic separater plate didnt hold.. so I put the ls in a black garbage bag and closed it up.. I am now waiting for the glass separater plate that I just cut to dry (the silicone).
Anyways, Is the ls okay to use even though it has been in the plastic garbage bag for 2 weeks?
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Someone told me if the sand stays wet you can still use it, but wait till someone else confirms that first. I'm not sure if that sounds right. :notsure:
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Did you keep it smerged in water?
I would also just use the smell test. If it smells badly, I would not use it. Check the levels of the water in the black garbage bag. If they spiked, you know not to use it because some of the live must have decayed.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
if it needs to be cured, how would i do that? i know how to cure live rock, but sand..??
would i do it basically the same way, but mix up the sand every so often?
 
zman1

zman1

Active Member
Smell test will let you know pretty quickly. At a minimum throw it in a storage bin/trash can and rinse it as you would dry argonite sand. I left about 4 gals live sand in a 5 gal bucket sealed for a few months. It was a move and forgot about it. When I opened the bucket to see was was in it... I nearly hit the floor it smelled so bad. I must have rinsed it 5 or 6 times and gagged on the first 2..... I used it right after the rinsing. I used RO to rinse with as there was no chance anything was alive!
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
well, there is no smell at all to it... I put it in a tote and poured some of my tank water on it..
should i just wait a few hours and then test it for ammonia and stuff?
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
When you buy the aragalive sand it is just moist, no water in the bag, so yeah I would just test the water.
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
I can only imagine the smell would gag a maggot. When I took over my 55 gal and had to move and set up the tank again I did not know all that much about live sand, so I let it sit in a bucket with a lid after a week I started to get this smell that reminded me of a dead body. Once I found the source of the smell and pop the top, wow did I look like a techno colored piñata.
 
dburr

dburr

Active Member
It's going to smell. It should smell.
Just dig deep and take a wiff. If it smell like rotten eggs, that's good.
When it sits wet and undisturbed, it starts to work as a DSB should. No worries.
I would use it. Just put it in your sump but don't connect it to your main display. It will take 3 to 7 days to cycle in the sump then you can connect the 2 together.

My .02
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
Originally Posted by dburr
It's going to smell. It should smell.
Just dig deep and take a wiff. If it smell like rotten eggs, that's good.
When it sits wet and undisturbed, it starts to work as a DSB should. No worries.
I would use it. Just put it in your sump but don't connect it to your main display. It will take 3 to 7 days to cycle in the sump then you can connect the 2 together.

My .02
there was absolutely no smell at all!!! even when I dug around in there!!!
I put it in the fuge today and filled it with water and put a powerhead in with it...
im gonna check all levels tomorrow.
 
cain420

cain420

Active Member
whats it mean if it didnt have any smell?? i packaged it right or what?
i had it in a tank for like 2 days b4 i bagged it up.. and the tank it was in wasnt connected to the display or had any stock in it or anything.. so maybe i got lucky that i bagged it when i did!
 
uberlink

uberlink

Active Member
I don't think it would have any smell at all. It wwan't in your system long enough to get charged up with detritus and nitrates. I think it's basically like a new back of live sand. Just do what you're planning--put it in your fuge and let it complete any cycle before hooking it up to your main system. I doubt you'll have any problems at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top