Adding Live Sand to an esbalished tank

[reeferboy83]

My 2nd tank has been set up for about 6 months and initially I was going to go with bare bottom but now I am thinking I want to add some sand. Do you guys think there would be any ill effects on adding some live sand to this tank? I plan on adding it slow but other than than would there be any cons to doing this? There are only a few fish in there at the moment and just a few corals. :fish:

 

[patrick]

I would advise you to make sure you rinse the sand well before putting it in. My dad added some live sand from the commercial packets about 5 years ago and he did not rinse it because he was improperly informed not to. Needless to say, it was full of decaying bacteria and the ammonia and nitrite production caused him to lose all but one fish. And the tank had been setup for 3 years and had sand and ample liverock when he added it. It just could not handle whatever bioload the bags placed on it.

Edit: I think your plan of adding it slowly and in small amounts is best.

 

[crewdawg1981]

Rinse live sand?! Then it wouldn't be... Well... Live.

I've added several times in the past with no ill effects. Just add slowly.

 

[reeferboy83]

Crewdawg1981;737390 wrote: Rinse live sand?! Then it wouldn't be... Well... Live.

I've added several times in the past with no ill effects. Just add slowly.

I think "slow" seems to be the best bet with just about anything you do with reef tanks!

 

[patrick]

Crewdawg1981;737390 wrote: Rinse live sand?! Then it wouldn't be... Well... Live.

I've added several times in the past with no ill effects. Just add slowly.

Depends what you rinse it with. The bacteria are attached to the sand and not significant in the water. He was told the same thing you just said, but not adding it slowly. He added 2 bags to a 65 gallon and it wiped everything out. Personally, I would just add not live sand and proceed from there. I mean how much beneficial bacteria are you really gonna get from a bag of substrate that has been sitting around for a few months, sealed, without any oxygen and or turnover? Just seems like you'd do better to do a sand swap with other members to get better diversity.

But, if you rinse the sand with tank water from a water change or RO, you would likely be fine.

Edit:

reeferboy83;737394 wrote: I think "slow" seems to be the best bet with just about anything you do with reef tanks!

True. Bad things happen fast and good things happen slow.

 

[rolo65]

Rinse it in RO water and add slowly....yes there are beneficial bacteria in "live" sand but there are also dead bacteria which when adding in large quantities will result in a recycle...with ammonia spikes and nitrite....so yeah....rinse it lightly with some RO water