Sand From The Ocean
- Thread starter pmauro
- Start date
ntvflgirl
Member
IMO, and I'm new at this as well, so please, wait for a shark to answer, oil, sludge, parasites, and just plain not knowing what is in there would more than likely have a detrimental effect on your tank. Maybe if you went offshore about 25 miles, and used scuba gear to dive down and get some sand, that may be okay, but still "iffy" IMHO. Are you just setting up a tank? If so, there are less expensive options to buying live sand, such as southdown playsand with a detrivore starter, or even if you know someone who has a tank, get a scoop of sand from that tank to "seed" your sandbed. Also, the lr will put any critters in it that you may need. Other than that, it's a waiting game for the bacteria to multiply. With all the time and effort we put into our tanks, I wouldn't want to put something in there that may damage the lr, ls, or any inverts, fish, etc. As Broomer5 says, your tank...your choice...but I think you'd be dissappointed in the strength and solidness of your tank.
Good luck
Good luck
nacl-h2o
Active Member
Is the ocean sand you refer to from the beach or the bottom of the ocean?
If it's from the bottom it would probably be fine as long as you went a good ways off shore and made sure it was legal to remove it from that area. And I wouldn't do it in areas where there having dinoflagalent problems. Just be forewarned many bad things live in the sand, just watch out.
If your talking about beach sand that's different. There you can have many problems with pollutants. Don't take it from a high traffic(people traffic) area and don't remove it from an area near a river mouth or inlet, these areas will have high levels of pollutants. Don't take it from an area with high dinoflagalent problems. And make sure it's legal to remove it from the area. Many of Americas eroded shore lines forbid the removal of sand. If they do beach restorations there it's almost certainly illegal. There are areas around here where you can be fined as much as $1000 for the removal of the sand.
Your taking a chance putting anything in your tank directly from the ocean, but I think most get away with it, with no ill affects. Good Luck!
If it's from the bottom it would probably be fine as long as you went a good ways off shore and made sure it was legal to remove it from that area. And I wouldn't do it in areas where there having dinoflagalent problems. Just be forewarned many bad things live in the sand, just watch out.
If your talking about beach sand that's different. There you can have many problems with pollutants. Don't take it from a high traffic(people traffic) area and don't remove it from an area near a river mouth or inlet, these areas will have high levels of pollutants. Don't take it from an area with high dinoflagalent problems. And make sure it's legal to remove it from the area. Many of Americas eroded shore lines forbid the removal of sand. If they do beach restorations there it's almost certainly illegal. There are areas around here where you can be fined as much as $1000 for the removal of the sand.
Your taking a chance putting anything in your tank directly from the ocean, but I think most get away with it, with no ill affects. Good Luck!
pmauro
Member
Ok I hear all of you, I was thinking about going 25 miles or so off the coast near the edge of the continental shelf and getting a few # to seed with, I'm a qualified diver and the water is only 120' or so in a few places before it drops off so I thought I would try it and maybe look for some live rock while I am at it. I guess it will take a little more thought.
S
sebae0
Guest
i got a pretty nice piece of rock from hawaii and i put it in my tank, havent had any problems. the rock was out of the water for the whole flight home and then soaked in fresh water for a couple of days. i dont think it was actually a piece of live rock because it was very dense with not to many holes but it did have some coraline on it that survived thru the soaking. but from everything im reading on here i wouldnt put anything in unless absolutly positive any bad things were dead.
darkrose
New Member
Originally posted by RockinAR
I have been a certified diver since 1990. I also know that 120' is pushing your luck on the table. You're starting to stare death in the face at that depth. Is it worth a few scoops of sand? Unless you are Nitrox certifed or have a rebreather I would not not go 120. Especially for some scoops of sand.
I've been a certified diver for over 12 years (I was 15 when I was certified, and one of PADI's youngest O/W divers at the time).
I don't know much about Nitrox (I am going to take a nitrox class this spring), but I thought that Nitrox was an increased oxygen/reduced nitrogen mix that could actually be fatal at this depth.
He should be able to do a 5-7 minute bottom time dive and then do a 15 minute safety stop at 10 or 15'. This should be plenty of time to get a couple scoops of sand. I routinely spend 30-40 mins in 85' of water diving wrecks off shore here..
All he needs to worry about is having an experienced buddy to make sure he doesn't get Nitrogen Narcosis (not bent, narc'd).
~DR~