Is it adviseable to collect "real" live sand?

[Impaler]

I'm going fishing this weekend for the proverbial saddle blanket flounder. My question is, since I'll be in Galveston/Texas City, Can I collect a good bit of sand from the dike area for the tank? I understand about pollution adn all, but will it really help at all? I have a buttload of the little brittle stars, plus bristle worms, and the tiny shrimp. Will the real thing supply me with anything useful/beneficial? I don't like ordering online, and the lfs here don't normally carry live sand it seems. I'd like to add more variety to my tank, but am afraid of something bad happening.

Your opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanx
Dan

[dattack]

I personally wouldn't risk it but I wouldn't there be a problem in terms of using live sand from a colder area of the ocean vs the ones in the tropical region? I assume they would survive at different temps?

Why don't you try to find someone to give you a cupful of live sand. I believe there are a few reefers in your part of Texas. You can add biodiversity from different reefers.

[piercho]

I have Puget Sound (55F) sand in my 81F tropical aquarium. I liked the sand, and I thought the grain size and silt content was right for a DSB per Dr Shimek. I collected the sand from the -1 tide level and passed the sand through a 1/4" grid when I collected it to screen out the larger animals. The sand was brought to 81F gradually over 3 weeks.

The only thing I expected to survive this was bacteria, algae, and maybe some tiny pods. These did, as well as a few unidentified snails that have grown to 3/4" and leave egg cases all over the aquarium. Fortunately, the snail larvae seem to have a plankton phase so I don't have a population explosion of them - yet.

IMO, any time you bring new stuff into your aquarium you take your chances. You could get some really cool worms and pods that will energize your sandbed. You could get some kind of vile pathogen that you will have to nuke your tank to get rid of.

Personally, if I already had a lot invested in my reef and was happy with the results I don't think I'd take the chance. My tank is still in the snail-watching (breaking in) phase so what did I have to lose?

On a related topic, I asked Dr Shimek about bringing live water into my aquarium and his response is here:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39629