Live Sand Question? Can you mix Live Sand with Regular to seed it?

[theoneandonlyt]

I was wondering if you could mix live Sand with not live sand and seed it. If so, how much longer would it take for this to work?

 

[bang guy]

Yep, it's the best value there is.
The more live sand you add the faster the bed will be healthy but the sand bed is rarely on the critical path to having a mature aquarium.

 

[rondo]

You can certainly mix the two imo. Time would depend on how much live vs. regular sand you use. More live sand= less time for regular sand to become "live".

 

[theoneandonlyt]

Thanks, appreciate it....i have been reading quite a bit and several sites and articles say that it is no problem then some say not to. From my research this seems to be the most credible source i've found, so thanks again.

 

[vince-1961]

Microwave your sand, bake it at 1,000 degrees and otherwise sterilize it. Then put it in your aquarium, add water and give it time. Eventually you'll have live sand, b/c bacteria are everywhere.
Buying live sand merely speeds up the process.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by vince-1961
http:///forum/post/3109158
Microwave your sand, bake it at 1,000 degrees and otherwise sterilize it. Then put it in your aquarium, add water and give it time. Eventually you'll have live sand, b/c bacteria are everywhere.
Buying live sand merely speeds up the process.

Where will the sandbed infauna come from if all you have is bacteria in your sand? Some of it can come from live rock but for a healthy sandbed you really need at least a small amount of real live sand added to your sandbed from time to time.

 

[vince-1961]

"infauna"?

 

[bang guy]

Worms, Ostracodes, etc., the near microscopic animals that inhabit sand and keep it healthy by pulling water through the grains.

 

[afiorella11]

Quote:
Originally Posted by vince-1961 http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3109158
Microwave your sand, bake it at 1,000 degrees and otherwise sterilize it. Then put it in your aquarium, add water and give it time. Eventually you'll have live sand, b/c bacteria are everywhere.Buying live sand merely speeds up the process.
Should I do this to the regular sand before i mix it with the live sand. Or is it not necessary?

 

[bang guy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by afiorella11 http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3429146
Should I do this to the regular sand before i mix it with the live sand. Or is it not necessary?
Just my opinon but baking sand at 1000 degrees sounds crazy.

 

[travelerjp98]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3429157
Just my opinon but baking sand at 1000 degrees sounds crazy.
I must agree!

 

[travelerjp98]

Quote:
Originally Posted by afiorella11 http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3429146
Should I do this to the regular sand before i mix it with the live sand. Or is it not necessary?
Welcome to the site!
No, it is not necessary!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Welcome to the site! Glad you found us! I hope you stay a while.

 

[afiorella11]

thanks everyone, and i finally decided to just go with the regular sand and just add beneficial bacteria.
much cheaper!!!

 

[afiorella11]

Thanks

 

[afiorella11]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bang Guy http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3429157
Just my opinon but baking sand at 1000 degrees sounds crazy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelerjp98 http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3429161
Welcome to the site!
No, it is not necessary!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3429173
Welcome to the site! Glad you found us! I hope you stay a while.
Thanks everyone for your input. I'm glad i found this forum. This community is great and i'm excited to be a part of it.

 

[jerth6932]

Quote:
Originally Posted by vince-1961 http:///t/363471/live-sand-question-can-you-mix-live-sand-with-regular-to-seed-it#post_3109158
Microwave your sand, bake it at 1,000 degrees and otherwise sterilize it. Then put it in your aquarium, add water and give it time. Eventually you'll have live sand, b/c bacteria are everywhere.
Buying live sand merely speeds up the process.
Isn't this how you create glass? I could be wrong.... Probably am.....
Buy sand and add some live to seed it as you said, it does work that way. That is how I transferred my 55g to my 90 with out using any of my old sand with out any deaths in live stock. I used 60 regular sand with 30lbs of live on top of it. Worked fine for me.

 

[jerth6932]

Googled it, it would only need another 3200 degrees F, to melt to glass.(how do people find this stuff out????) Ohhh well I tried huh? lol