seeding my sand bed?

[wolffvet]

I now have 60 lbs. of live sand and 10 lbs. of GARF grunge and my tank has been running for 2 weeks and there is no sign of life. I am wondering if I need to seed my sand with some sort of kit or something or if I should just wait? If I need to seed it where are some good places to buy?

 

[wamp]

If you have LR your sand will become active with time. Just takes a while before you see any action. Just give it some time before you add stuff. I would hat to see you spend money on stuff you don't need. A detriovre kit would speed things up but, I would just be patient.

 

[noodle]

exactly what i was thinking Live rock comes with all sorts of cretures get some and they will eventually expand throughout your tank

 

[nm reef]

Besides being patient another good option is to see if you can get some crud/rubble from the bottom of tanks LFS's use to cure lr. Its a great way to add diversity to your sand bed and can be a lot cheaper than purchasing the same diversity on-line. I know of a LFS that has given me crud/rubble several times. They think I'm rather nuts. But it is full of life....seeded the sand in my refugium with it!!!

 

[wolffvet]

Thanks for the help. I will go to my LFS and see if they will give some stuff from their tanks.

 

[hondo]

If you are interested in kits check out these two websites.
<a href="http://www.inlandaquatics.com" target="_blank">www.inlandaquatics.com</a>
<a href="http://www.ipsf.com" target="_blank">www.ipsf.com</a>
they both sell them. I have used inland and can recomend them but have never tried IPSF though I have heard good things about them.

 

[wolffvet]

I checked out both sites last night. Inland looks pretty good to me

 

[y2says]

I think you should wait. Save yourself the money and buy corals or other things. One thing I found doing this is that when I buy a mushroom rock or polyps, there are always hitchhikers. Eventually they will spread and seed your sand. I just started my 180g reef a month ago and so far there are signs of snail eggs and small urchins.

 

[wolffvet]

What would be a good beginner coral

 

[karvis]

button polyps
here is what i found on swf on them
<strong> posted on the site:https://www.saltwaterfish.com/c_button.html
The Button Polyps, upon first glance, look like they would be very easy to care for and luckily this is true! These corals are very hardy and usually relatively inexpensive.
The little round button-like polyps cover a rubbery mat, which either interconnects or separates each polyp. Their characteristics are a bump or mouth in the center of a round polyp with tiny tentacles evenly spaced in a circle. They have small stalks and like the Star Polyps, they also resemble tiny underwater flowers bunched together. Usually they are green and blue while another popular Button Polyp are the Yellow Button Polyps.
Button Polyps also contain zooxanthellae, which make it unnecessary to feed them if they are supplied with excellent water conditions and moderate lighting. The Button Polyps will eat brine shrimp and other food solutions but it is not a necessity. A moderate current and moderate lighting is all that is required to keep the Button Polyps happy.
With an Iodine and Calcium solution, in addition to regular water changes, the Button Polyps will grow and multiply at a moderate speed. Their tiny tentacles are used to capture food and will not interfere with other corals in the tank. Be sure to keep these specimens away from hard corals, (Bubble, Elegant, Hammer) which possess sweeping tentacles.
Like the Star Polyps, if the Button Polyps are placed next to neighboring rocks they will easily grow onto them. These newly covered rocks may also be moved to other parts of the tank.
</strong>
here are some pics on that site

 

[wolffvet]

Cool, I'll check that out. I like the way shrooms look