LFS Live sand?

Discussion in 'Sand' started by steelhead, Feb 10, 2014.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. steelhead

    steelhead Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2012
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Eastlake,Ohio
    How long does live sand in a bag from the store really stay alive? Not ready for it yet but but there is a sale comming up and could save some money.
     
  2. Click Here!

  3. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2010
    Messages:
    19,652
    Location:
    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Mostly it's a gimmic, if it cost more than regular sand do not bother.
     
  4. Manny_World

    Manny_World Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2013
    Messages:
    71
    Location:
    N Las Vegas
    The live sand I use (CaribSea Arag-Alive) have a shelf life of 12 months, but also have a 'best if use by' date.
     
  5. steelhead

    steelhead Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2012
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Eastlake,Ohio
    Thanks, going from 75 to a 125 I want to start with new sand but will be using my old rock. Will this be enough to seed the tank and get it going? really not looking forward to running two systems for too long.
     
  6. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2010
    Messages:
    19,652
    Location:
    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Yes, the rock from the existing tank will work well. Any filtration media like sponge or floss that you have will works too.
     
  7. steelhead

    steelhead Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2012
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Eastlake,Ohio
    By doing this way how long do you think it will take until I can transfer my fish to the new tank.I may even use some water from the runnig system to help:thinking2
     
  8. Click Here!

  9. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2010
    Messages:
    19,652
    Location:
    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    I imagine it will not take long. Are you going to add any further rock, hopefully fully cured? How many fish are moving over and what type of inverts?
     
  10. steelhead

    steelhead Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2012
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Eastlake,Ohio
    Will need more rock, will be using 60-80 lbs. of my rock 1 clown,1 gramma, 1 small tang and a few crabs.
     
  11. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

    Joined:
    May 28, 2011
    Messages:
    4,874
    Location:
    USA
    IMOPE, bagged live sand comes with a plethora of microfauna that helps keep it clean. One small bag will seed the sandbed for any size system. Just be sure you do not add sand-sifting gobies or starfish; they prey on the infauna you paid extra for. :eek:
     
  12. kstafford003

    kstafford003 Feather Star

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2010
    Messages:
    769
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Here is my humble opinion.

    In regards to the sand it should have an expiration date on the bag. The nitrifying bacteria go dormant and can live in that bag for a pretty long time. The new rock you are adding will it already be cured or will it be dry? You can do the entire transfer in one long day if you wish. Make sure you have plenty of new salt water and the ability to rinse your new sand. If the rock is fully cured or dry it will not cause a cycle in the new tank. If it needs cycling you will have to run another system to cycle it. I rinsed my live sand in a bucket of salt water one time. This doesn't make it completely clear but it gets rid of the dust from shipping without washing everything live away. Put your new sand in the new tank, move your rocks over (vise-versa if you like your rocks touching the glass), move most of the water over from the old tank, move fish/corals, take a cup of old sand and put it in a mound in the middle of the new tank (this way you can remove it later if you wish), move fairly quickly to get circulation going in the new tank, finish filling the new tank with the new water you already made, move all of your filtration equipment over (without changing any media), and fire the system up. Let it run for a week and you will be ready to clean equipment, remove seed sand, replace filters, etc.

    This is what I did when I upgraded my tank and had no issues. I am assuming you took care of your tank and the old rock won't be full of crap like mine was. I ended up rinsing each rock as I moved it because I wasn't a very good reefer at that time.