need to know!! (can i make Really good live sand?)

thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
well guyzz i know the fish aquarium stuff perdy good but not reefin.. so i need help.. right now i have crush coral in my 155 bow front tank wouldlike to chang it to live sand.. i know i can make live sand by just using my aquarium water from a maintainence change in another bucket w/pump but i was wonding since i live about 1 mile from a seemingly clean beach.. cant i just buy 'caribean play sand' from Home Depot , put it in a clean bucket (or something) and set it in the ocean for a month to make really good live sand...?? i mean u guyz thank i can get buch of good bacteria and sand critters??? (no offense but i would like answers of 90% to 100% confience of right answer.. =( for i do not want to try this and distroy my beloved tank and lost of expensive fish..
thx all for da help = )
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Now thatsa interesting idea....but I wonder...if you place a bunch of sand in a bucket and then place the bucket in the ocean for a month or so....how are you going to keep the sand in the bucket. Seems to me it'll wash away eventually....but I suppose its doable. :thinking:
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
hum.. i had already put into consideration that the will b a lot of waves and current trying to wash away my sand in a bucket, dats y i was thinking of putting a lid on it w/ 1/4 inch holes drilled in it to let water semi flew in and out & let critters in... i could tie the bucket to a monsterous size rock from the jetty (for those who dont knowwhat this 'jetty' is' it's a giant man made wave breacker that is easily big enough to walk on (i go fishing on it =}... ) i figure a month would be plenty of time for my sand to cycle since i am setting it in a ocean full of living bacteria and not in a tank the we all r trying so hard to replicate.... one other thing i need to work out is to find a way to make enough sand for my 155 bowfront..(i dont think 5 gal buket will cut it.. but the bigger the batch the HEAVIER it will be.. dats a lot of wet sand.. i will b carrying.. =(
 
meadbhb

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
I'd be really worried about polutions. I think you have to go 5 miles out to get clean sand and stuff.
Personally, I wouldn't try it.
Meadbhb
 
stuckinfla

stuckinfla

Active Member
Pollutants would not by my major concern, (I pump my own water for my tanks from the ocean, I feel this offers my tanks the best of their own world, and they love it!!) weight is one, #2 is the legality of it. I am actully thinking of doing this with some base rock about 1/4 mile offshore, but my understanding is that you need to pull permits (dont know exactly though, really have looked that far into it). Find out from your local gov and then go for it.
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
Sorry, I know you said 90-100%.... but.... Doesn't live sand have come from around a coral reef? I'm not sure if live sand just contians basic cycling bacteria though.
Just thought I'd bring it up - curious.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
hum... i dont think there would be any probs with gov issue in the area for it is a free beach.. i c lot of windserfers out there and verly lil peeps actually on the beach itself so i think the water is perdy clean of palutants but ill probaly ( if i do this thing) will set all da sand in my 2 clean 20 gal trashcanz that i only use for water changes and let it sit with new clean saltwater and a pump to try to rid as much polutant if any out... the main point of trying to make this sand by means of ocean was to see if i can get critters into my sand and not bacteria (bacteria is a nice bonuse tho =} for i could of just made live sand w/ my tank water..the 2nd reason was to get as close to the real live sand in a reef as possible at the lowest cost for i am really broke and cant offord the $$ for live sand.... i seem to have a bad habit of picking expensive hobbies.. or should i say not hobbies but passhionz...of certain thingz.. (i dj also and that cost just as much as my fish tank!! tank cost me roughly 3k and my dj equip about 3k .... this is not including all the fish that died and still thrive and all my record that i have... )
 
dragonboy

dragonboy

Active Member
Why don't you use live rock cause either way you still gonna put live rock into your tank where the bacteria will eventually spread to the sand. Well you should also be concern of unwanted critters from the ocean and parasites.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
well i am going to put some live rock in my tank n e wayz but im just trying to get as much critter and as close to the real deal ocean as possible...:) im just doing research on this befor i try this thing if i do this at all... most likely ill do a lil experiment..try it on a small scale in my qt tank .. c if my gigantic damsal can survive for 1 1/2 moth in it.... too bad it's really cold or id try it already!!! :D friggin jersy and the cold weather!!!!!!!
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
Why not just see if someone on the board here will give/sell you a cup of live sand to mix with the Home Depot sand? There should be enough starter critters in there to seed your sand. Even better, a cup each from several diffrent reefers, for greater biodiversity.
You could try putting the sand in a fabric sack. All but the finest of particles will be held inside, but bacteria could get in. Trick would be finding something that had a fine enough weave that wouldn't decompose. (100% polyester maybe?)
I don't know about the other microfauna though. Anything you do to keep the sand from washing away will keep out particulate nutrients and small critters.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
hum..now thas a smart man.. but 1 cup?? i stinking cup u think would seed 200lbs sand??.. hum.. and if it's that ez...and only takes so il to seed the sand.. can n e 1 or actually a few plp donate 1 cup???... and the bag idea.. thats smart... but i dont know .. i might try it.... but i like the 1 cup idea.. and the donate to THANGBOM idea just as much

e-mail me at ThangBom321@yahoo.com for my home address .. SUPPORT a fellow fish lover......
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member

Originally posted by ThaNgBom
hum..now thas a smart man.. but 1 cup?? i stinking cup u think would seed 200lbs sand
You only need an Adam and an Eve for each species, and the critters you're after are very tiny.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
humm... i may have confussed myself alone the way somewhere... i thought there 'critters' that i was trying to get where actually lil dudes walking and digging around in the sand.. not like microscopic bacteria...... but if it is just bacteria.. that just make it all the more easier for :) soo can n e 1 donate a cup worth to the poor reef-a-holic ThaNBom??? 1 cup?........
 
dskidmore

dskidmore

Active Member
Not quite microscopic, but you still need a magnifying lens to see these guys. Little worms, "pods," and the larval forms of who knows what is what you're after.
I'm sorry I don't have a cup to give, I do not have my own saltwater aquarium at this time. I'm hoping to get it going in the spring. (I'm now 6 months into the pre-study period.)
 
thedude

thedude

Member
oh yeah...if you cant get people to donate, maybe just buying a little sand would work. I mean...you might not be able to afford 200lbs...but maybe 20?
 
nc2tarheel

nc2tarheel

Member
wuz up playaz. i b da one dat dont know Enuff bout dis stuff to comment my epinion but allz i do knowz is......
YOU NEED TO GO TO ENGLISH CLASS BRO' and don't you EVER EVER EVER quit school "cuz it be sounded like youz craaaaaaaazy smart bro"
 
K

keeka333

Guest
This may be a far stretch, but just something I thought of.
We all know what not everything that lives in the ocean can live in our fishtanks (unfortunately :) ) If this were me, I would be afraid of having some of the "critters" you were looking for die off and cause a possible ammonia spike.
Just something i would worry about. :thinking:
Good Luck!
 
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