Live Sand for Start-Up

[Mdwannabe]

Start-Up of 170 is around the corner (next couple of weeks) if my wife has anything to say about it!!!! LOL
Going to go with 3" of Southdown, and 1" of live sand.
This means I will need approx. 150 LBS. of live sand.
Anyone have a recomendation as to where I should go to order this, on-line site prices suprised me to say the least. Maybe I just forgot how much it was the last time I did a full system start up.
Looking for sand that is about the same grain size as Southdown (sugar size).

Hey Fishdoc: if you read this post, after I got the 75 torn down, I removed the plenum, and it was spotless below it, no alge to be seen (after 6+ years), though the smell could peel paint!. Makes me think maybe I should do it again, what you think?

All input appreciated.

See Ya:
Rick

[coralreefing]

My opinion on live sand is "a little goes a long way". I think you would do as well with 30 to 50 pounds, then add a few pounds at 3 & 6 months from other sources for diversity. Tampa Bay has LS for $2 pound but the grain size varies widely. Having varied grains can be good though because different micro inverts like different grain sizes.

Also there's an interesting DSB/plenum thread in the advanced forum at http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=289910

[gflat65]

I agree on the differing grain size, though I am a huge fan of the sugar sized. I mixed 125 pounds of Southdown with ~1150 cubic inches of sugar sized LS from my 55 reef (no longer:)) and ~540 cubic inches of Seaflor (slightly smaller than crushed coral) LS from the old 40 FOWLR. I like the look, but I'm hoping for a larger diversity fo sand critters and maybe some filter benefits. May aid in compaction too, at least short term.

Just my $0.02

[rcmike]

I never have worried about "live" sand. If you put live rock in the tank the pods will spread to the sand. The bacteria will colonize it quickly also. If I look under my stand at the bottom of the tank I have all kinds of worm burrows and tunnels. That is just my opinion though. It has always worked for me.

[fishdoc11]

I agree with gflat in that I see buying live sand as unnecessary. Any sand you put in the tank will become live sand in short order. As far as the plenum, DSB, shallow sand bed, barebottom controversy I really don't know. The issue is really one of opinion. Plenums do work. There wasn't any algae present because there wasn't any light under the plenum. Was there any detritus present? I would suggest rereading some on plenums. There is an article in this months Coral magazine by Sprung about "revisiting the Monaco(plenum) system" that may be helpfull in that it is a very up to date article although I haven't read it.
Chris

[coralreefing]

I talked to Sean at Emerald Bay yesterday & they have live sand for $1 pound. This was a shipment they got a good deal on & they're passing it on to the customers :)

[kev-dog1]

Hi Rick
Can I ask where you got the Southdown? And if you'll be using all you have?
I'm looking for one 50# bag. I think that is all I'll need for my 38g - floor dimension = 36"x12". Trying to get a 3" sandbed.

When I dismantle the 55g I'll have some LS I can offer to help "seed" your new sand bed, but that will be a few weeks away.

Here's a questions for anybody/everybody...Is it true that when I make this transfer of rock, corals, and fish to another tank that I'll only want to use/transfer the top layer (1/2") of LS from the previous tank? Or is it all something that can be re-used? I don't want to throw out something that can be beneficial or of value, but I don't want to run the risk of creating a problem using old sand that has been on the bottom for several years.

[fishdoc11]

Kev-dog1
Only use the top layer. Transfering the whole sandbed is not a good idea. You might see what I mean when you smell it when you remove it.
Chris

[kev-dog1]

Yeah Chris, even after washing, my hands smelled like old aquarium water for a couple of days after removing the sand from the 38g :(
Thanks for the advice.

[gflat65]

I ended up using about 80% of the old sand from my reef and 99% of the old sand from my fish tank. I had to remove the nice dark compacted layers/pockets as I went along as that will seriously cause you some problems. It may not be the prescribed way, but less than a week after the transfer, I was able to move all of my softies in and everyone seemed happy. I had mounds of dead bristle worms (from the once live fish tank rock-the cycle got the rock) before transferrring the sand and some of the rock. I may have just been lucky. The short of it, adding the sand from my existing reef and mixing with my fish tank medium, I was able to introduce the corals a little faster than if I hadn't used the old sand. I had to have some sort of short cut though, so I was willing to try whatever I thought might work. I had a lot of nasty dark compacted sulfur/ forming areas in the reef, so those sections were removed. I'm only a couple of weeks into the entire tank transfers, so I can't say what long term effects, or around the corner short term effect moving the sand might have had. If you aren't planning on doing if for a couple of weeks, maybe I'll have more observations from my move. I held the sps in a holding tub for about a week and a half until the cycle was where I wanted it after adding the sand. How you plan to move may help dictate whether you even what to mess with it. You will inevitable get some of the bad sand stirred up and transferred, so the waiting time may be an issue in terms of coral housing.

I don't know...I'm rambling. I did it, but I can definitely see where the concerns are. There are probably more bad concerns than positive gains.

[gflat65]

fishdoc
When I was last at your house, you mentioned that you needed some acrylic. If you still need it let me know because I have a piece of Lexan that is 21 1/4 x 34 x 3/16 you can have. Just let me know.

[fishdoc11]

Thanks gflat,
I picked some up a couple days ago. I've got it cut and notched and will probably silicone the baffles in today:-)
Chris