# 50% live sand, 50% unlive sand?



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

Would i be able to have 50% live sand and 50% unlive sand to save money yet still have live sand? The live sand should seed the unlive sand so im sure it wouldnt be that bad....


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

With a nano just get a bag of live sand. you wouldnt be saving any money, seeing how I dont know a LFS that would sell you just enough live sand to fill the nano. THey come in 25lb bags.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok then.....


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## trreherd (Aug 7, 2006)

Man i would never buy this crap. All it is is some sand with some bacteria in it. 
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=7318&N=2004+113554
If you want a true live sand this is the stuff you need.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=403&N=0
But i wouldent buy it anyway. All the goods are already coming with your lr so if the little critters in your rock want to live in your sand, they will.
I just think live sand is a rippof.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

well since one says its fine, the other says its not, i will go with 50/50 lol, and isnt live rock bacteria different from live sand bacteria?


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

trreherd said:


> Man i would never buy this crap. All it is is some sand with some bacteria in it.
> http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=7318&N=2004+113554
> If you want a true live sand this is the stuff you need.
> http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=403&N=0
> ...


You are the first person to say that about live sand, live sand is very good along with the live rock. What is the difference between the second and first. They both contain the bacteria to make it live. Like you said with the first all it is, is sand with live stuff in it.


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## trreherd (Aug 7, 2006)

I want to see some proof that a tank with live rock and live sand is any better than another tank with live rock and plain argonite sand. If you let your tank age for a few months with lr and regular sand, wont that sand be live sand? And Even if there are good stuff in ls that arent in lr could you just take a cup of ls and mix it in with normal sand?
all im saying is i wana see some proof, i dont see any benifits in using ls over regular sand.


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

When I started my tank I mixed regular argonite with live sand(50/50) to save money. For the nano you can in fact buy plain argonite and then take a cup of live sand and seed the argonite. But were are you just going to find a cup of live sand. I dont know a LFS that will give a cup to everyone that ask.


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## Melissa (Nov 28, 2006)

it would be better if you just went out and bought the bag of live sand.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok then you people win, but i will try asking for a cup lol. Heres a opinion question, what color sand brings out the color in the clownfish to you? I kinda like brownish white sand rather than black but what would look nice with a clown?


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

I only know of one color sand!


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## Melissa (Nov 28, 2006)

well there is only one color live sand...all the colored stuff is fake.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

so... what color is it lol, pinkish white?


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

I have to disagree about the colors. If you go to the Caribsea web site (where TR is getting some of his ideas from as I sent him there eons ago), colored sand is mixed from different areas of the world. It's the coloration from the dead crushed coral skeletons. It comes in different shades from grey to pink. Not to mention that you can get a natural black sand but it's not recommended for salt tanks. It will however make yoru colros "pop". 


Live sand in a bag is a nice product. Combined with live rock and clean water you can pretty much begin adding critters to your tank in a few days instead of a few weeks. It begins the cycling process immediately and hte bacteria quickly colonize a new tank. My LFS sells live sand from their tanks for $1.50 a pound. Several of my local shops keep 200g tanks with a 8" bed so that they can scoop it out when needed. It's dry carab sea aragonite mixed with old sand so it continuously is being seeded. A really nice deal and only a dedicated shop would do somethign like that, fortunately I have 6 shops within 8 miles to chose from that take these steps for us. For a nano I'd get a bag of dry aragonite and then bum a cup or 2 off from a LFS or friends tank to "seed" it. Tr is on the right track that if you place quality LR in the tank that even dry sand will quickly become "live sand".


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## Birdmann_az (Dec 27, 2007)

Why would anyone buy live sand, if you can get a cup of sand from a live aquarium assuming that it is safe from disease? .. From my reading you use this established sand to seed your own substrate with bacteria to speed up the cycling process.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Because you can cycle the tank much faster, so is the claim. It's a debated theory but the claim is that your ENTIRE sand bed is ready to go from day one. One of my LFS stands behind it enough that if you buy a tank, enough "live sand in a bag" and premixed water, they will send you home with fish on day one and guarantee they make it. I don't agree with it myself but it's their policy. What if you feel isolated as a hobbyist and don't feel like there are any tanks near you? What if you live in the country and MUST order everything to be shipped in? What if you are just getting into the hobby and don't realize that you could buy a pound of display sand (All of my LFS open bags of aragonite and keep them in 50g tanks seeded and ready to go. It costs $0.25 a lb more) and use that to slowly seed your tank? There are reasons why this is a decent product, there are just as many reasons not to buy it.


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