lbg4life01
Member
What are the advantages if any or disadvantages from using sand from alantic ocean verus southbeach, live, or aragonite.
Sand from Ocean
- Thread starter lbg4life01
- Start date
ms. fish
Member
Not sure if there are any real benefits to it. I brought back a bunch of shells and small rocks from a recent trip to Puerto Rico and added them to my 28 gallon. The tank really began to flourish with a bunch of different polyps and other things that I never noticed before. Not sure if that's just a coincidence though...
exotickeeper
Member
It's more of a risk you don't want to take, in the ocean and sand, people dump god what knows what in there, and I know for a fact that there are heavy metals and tiny glass particles in ocean sand. You can take the time to sift it out (if that's possible) but you'd wish you would of just bought it
lbg4life01
Member
Thanks guys so I see that sand from the ocean is out!!!
What is the problem with regular play sand?
What is the problem with regular play sand?
fender
Active Member
Regular play sand has a couple disadvantages, one being that it is silicate based. Some have said that this can cause diatom blooms and other problems, this has been disputed but is still something to consider. Another is silicate based sand tends to be sharper or have more edges than aragonite - which tends to be egg shaped because aragonite can actually wear and dissolve in acidic conditions. Aragonite has the advantage of providing some buffering capabilities because it will dissolve and can help to stabilize your PH. Sandbed infauna tend to thrive more in an aragonite based environment - probably because of the softer edges.
lbg4life01
Member
ok good point
The ones that i have found there are some that is siciate free
What about these ones?
The ones that i have found there are some that is siciate free
What about these ones?
bojuben
Member
Even going off shore 2 - 3 miles to collect sand or water is not a good idea - IMO.
Up until last year we had a sailboat. We would sail from San Diego to Catalina several times a year. I would not collect anything along the way! This is a major shipping lane for ships/boats. Boats are permitted to "dump" in the ocean as long as they are 1 - 2 mile off the shore and many do. Trust me - I have seen some really unusual items floating in the ocean. Really makes me mad!
Some boaters feel they don't need to follow the rules and dump in the bays and anywhere they wish. In Catalina Harbor Patrol board your boat and drop a blue dye tablet inside your holding tank. If you dump or have a leak you boat is surrounded by the lovely site of "Tidy Bowl Blue" water and they come running to give you a huge fine.
That said - unless I was in a very remote part of ocean I would not consider taking water or sand home to my tank.
Up until last year we had a sailboat. We would sail from San Diego to Catalina several times a year. I would not collect anything along the way! This is a major shipping lane for ships/boats. Boats are permitted to "dump" in the ocean as long as they are 1 - 2 mile off the shore and many do. Trust me - I have seen some really unusual items floating in the ocean. Really makes me mad!
Some boaters feel they don't need to follow the rules and dump in the bays and anywhere they wish. In Catalina Harbor Patrol board your boat and drop a blue dye tablet inside your holding tank. If you dump or have a leak you boat is surrounded by the lovely site of "Tidy Bowl Blue" water and they come running to give you a huge fine.
That said - unless I was in a very remote part of ocean I would not consider taking water or sand home to my tank.
neongolby
New Member
Well i believe that live sand from the ocean is the best choice I have a 100 gallon tank with live sand currently in it. Ok i guess there are a few drawbacks first is price and second is trying to catch any mantis that may have come along for the ride but the rewards for having live sand pay off bacteria is added to your tank copepods are there and all the live things you get with it brittle stars, crabs too much to list i swear by this stuff. and finally it looks that much more natral.
bullshark
Member
All sand comes from the ocean...
In my area(northeast) I would not collect sand just because of the brownish color. If you goto the lfs and check the sand they are selling, especially the live stuff with water in the bag, it says right on it, ''Straight from the Ocean floor, to you". I think the sand in Florida would be perfect to put directly in your tank.
In my area(northeast) I would not collect sand just because of the brownish color. If you goto the lfs and check the sand they are selling, especially the live stuff with water in the bag, it says right on it, ''Straight from the Ocean floor, to you". I think the sand in Florida would be perfect to put directly in your tank.
overanalyzer
Active Member
Originally posted by Kipass4130
probably quartz based... i had it... i hated it... i switched to southdown and like it
please elaborate a bit on this statement kip??