Live Sand...really???

[jetchris]

I was browsing RC and came across this statement and it really made me think

"I'm not totally certain about this, but how about that Caribsea live sand (at a premium price) in a bag that sits in a stock room for 6 months and when you see it on the shelf there's cyano in it. (I guess cyano makes it live sand.)
Whatever happened to being able to get just plain aragonite sand."

What does everyone think of this "so-called" live sand. Is it really that much more benefecial than dry aragonite sand or regular play sand??? As far as the "buffering benefit" I have heard that in an average home aquarium that there is not that much buffering that occurs because there is not enough "Live Sand" to create the buffering capability.

 

[pnguye3]

I really like it because it's easy to use. You don't have to wash or rinse it like the dry sand, which can be a big pain. You can pour it straight into the tank. As far as it being "live," I'm not sure it's live sand like from the ocean. I have a feeling it's more like sand with a nitrifying bacteria solution added to it...something like biospira, stability, cycle, or SuperBac.

 

[FutureInterest]

I tend to think the whole "live sand" shtick is baloney. You WANT to wash your sand off before it goes in the tank. You're seeing cyano in some bags that are exposed to light because there is plenty of phosphates in the "live sand" bags, that's all stuff you want to wash out of the sand... but washing it out would wash out the bacteria... So save yourself the trouble and get the dry stuff, add it to your tank after washing thoroughly and mix in a cup or two of sand from an existing tank, that's going to be a lot more "live" than any bag of sand that's been sitting in a warehouse. Bacteria spreads so quickly, there's no need to worry about getting "live sand" that already has bacteria on it.

 

[sammy33]

Live is misleading. I think "araga-packedinsaltwater" would be a more accurate name brand than "araga-live".

The primary benefit over using dry sand is that the wet sand causes less of an impact on carbonate depletion. I have experienced an alkalinity dip when using large volumes of dry sand in a new tank where the wet sand doesn't seem to do this.

Carib Seas claim is that the live sand contains "beneficial bacteria" and can shorten cycle times. The bacteria content can be tested for, I would think? I can say the the last nano reef I set up with arag-alive and cured live rock had corals in it 2 days later. The corals are all still alive and growing. I think carib sea is simply marketing to the impatient - like me. :blush: