[Lady G]

Ok, I posted this a AB also in the reed discussion, I am going to post it here also for varied opinions. So restarting my tank...I have been told that the live in "Live Sand" is really not worth the price. They said that what comes bagged really does not contain enough in there to worry about, and that I should just buy regular Aragomite Sand and the live rock will seed the sand. What are your thoughts on that???? Of coarse if you responded in the RB forum, I do not expect you to restate your opinion...unless you want to, I just want to get some discussions going on our part of the forum as well.

Thank you

G

[thelastmucci]

Personally I plan on buying my LS from wholesaleaquatics.com and supposidtly (sp?) it is going to have all sorts of goodies in it. Buying the premium stuff too. But you could go with your theory or better still buy 2/3 argonite and only buy a little LS to help "seed" but your theory sounds like it could work...I would also invest in some sort of mudd like fiji gold or GARF Grundge.

[e_baer]

I am getting 200lbs of carribean live sand and 1 gallon of miricle mud all for my 40g seagrass tank.

[Lady G]

There is bacteria available in the bagged live sand, however, the ammounts that is actually in there is not usually the levels which are stated on the bag..Hence why people dont suggest paying extra to buy it

If you are using live rock then the bacteria and other organisms in the live rock will seed the sand bed. I only recommend live sand when someone is starting a tank with all base rock, to start a bacteria line. Other than that I haven't seen any advantage to live sand for the cost.

This is what I was told, along with others that say it just isn't worth the cost. I am thinking if I get some good live rock, I may bypass the live sand...I don't know maybe I will end up getting like 1 bag just to through in there.

Now, what is this Mud you speak of

[Lady G]

Has anyone heard of this site??

US Marine Systems - Online Store

They seem to have great prices on their live rock, and you can order a variety in what ever size order you want..shipping isn't bad either. I was looking to "mix" it up a bit. Like a few lbs base, branchy, the deep red stuff, and a couple others.

[R-e-D]

how much is your time worth??? the best and maybe only advantage to using ls is the time it saves on seeding .. yes your lr will seed the sand but how long will depend on the quaility of rock you get .. my tank for example had 0 cycle time as i bought my lr from a established tank that was being broken down .. and i bought ls as well . so being in the hobby we all hate the time it takes to set up and cycle .. so back to my question , how much is your time worth? my time is worth more then the cost difference betewwn ls and regular bag sand .. IMO.

[Lady G]

Actually considering I still have a sump to make, and a protein skimmer to buy..the tank itself is going to be a while in the making (so to say)...if I could save some money on the sand and put it toward better quality LR then maybe in the end it would be worth it. I need to really cut corners as best I can without sacrificing the tank though. I am very low budget quite honestly, time is worth more persay...but end result at lowest price is what I need.

I don't know, it may be worth it to get the LS...but I am looking at a matter of a month or more before I will have the tank completely ready anyway. Would it take longer than that to seed the sand??

[R-e-D]

thats hard to say .. but imo i think depending on the flow and amount of bacteria you get with the lr it can take weeks to months to fully seed the sand .

[Lady G]

Ok, thank you I guess, once I get to the LFS I will have to decide what I want to do. I am trying to decide the advantage/disadvantage of ordering the LR online. I have to see what they have locally...so far it has been 7-8 bucks/lbs. I can get it online much cheaper...but then comes the shipping charge BLAH!!! Although one place I am looking at, ended up with shipping included equaling to about 4bucks/lbs....so worth it! They have a HUGE variety, just no one to tell me their quality. I am thinking about splitting up the order a bit, getting like half of what I want and seeing what I think of the rock...if it is good I will buy the rest through them..if not well, guess I'll get it from somewhere else.

[R-e-D]

i would try all the lfs in your area to see what they have to offer .. also ask they if they are taking down any of there display tanks soon , maybe you can get the rock from there .. i have a lfs near me who rebuilds there display about twice a year , so i got some real nice rock for my reef .

[thelastmucci]

Lady G,
I checked out that site that you had the link for and it's eearily close to the site I want to get my LR and LS from try going to http://www.wholesaleaquaticsupplies.com and check them out....I think the price may be a bit more affordable plus I know people on this site have used them. I plan on getting all marshall island rock for my tank but I am going to use about half to 2/3 "base" rock then seed the rest. I don't mind waiting since I got nothing going on at the momemnt...I"ll probably just end up testing twice a day. As far as the "mud" goes if you google "GARF" all caps then it should come up under geothermal something or other. That's the best kind of Mud out there..it's pricey but well worth it if you have a fuge. If you can't get that I'd look at Aquarium supplies for your tropical fish tank, saltwater fish tank, saltwater aquarium fish, freshwater aquarium fish & reef aquarium. Aquarium filters, aquarium lighting, aquarium tanks, protein skimmers & more for your reef tank. and look under substrate and check out teh fiji mudd. All Mud is it's another active ingredient in reefs that's full of life...it would in essecene speed up your cycle. I plan on getting some for my fuge.

[e_baer]

I just ordered 200lbs of carribean live sand and 12lbs of miricle mud last night. I will let you know how it all is when it gets here.

[Lady G]

Ok, thanks!!!

[hubris007]

So, i had some difficulties with my account, or i would have responded sooner...

IMHO live sand is a waste of money. If i did it over, i would do it the same way i did this last time. I puchased a few hundred pounds of bulk oolytic sand from inland aquatics and seeded it with a cup of fresh live sand from 6 different running systems. Keep in mind, this only works for a brand new system. The sand storm is tremendous, but once it settles, it makes a very nice bed.


As for "what's your time worth", nothing good in this hobby happens fast. Doing it right the first time will save you a LOT of money and time in the long run.

[e_baer]

Yes and no. Nothing does come fast, but buying live sand, things will happen a lot fastER than getting non-live sand.

I got my 200lbs of sand and love it. I also had the mud and it seems to be doing fairly well. It will take a few weeks to months to notice any difference.

[thelastmucci]

elliott I know you have a DSB in your sea grass tank but did you put the mudd before the sand or vice versa.

[e_baer]

The mud wasnt even really mud. It was more like dirt. So I added the "mud" first, then the sand on top.

[thelastmucci]

thanks elliott...I'll be sure to add the mud to my list of things to buy for tank.

[prolx]

Originally Posted by Lady G

Ok, thank you I guess, once I get to the LFS I will have to decide what I want to do. I am trying to decide the advantage/disadvantage of ordering the LR online. I have to see what they have locally...so far it has been 7-8 bucks/lbs. I can get it online much cheaper...but then comes the shipping charge BLAH!!! Although one place I am looking at, ended up with shipping included equaling to about 4bucks/lbs....so worth it! They have a HUGE variety, just no one to tell me their quality. I am thinking about splitting up the order a bit, getting like half of what I want and seeing what I think of the rock...if it is good I will buy the rest through them..if not well, guess I'll get it from somewhere else.

I bought my LR from DFS. I bought their premium fiji rock. I was very happy with what I got. lots of coraline algae. The shipping charges wasnt to bad and it was still cheaper then the LFS and didnt have to deal with unwanted pests like I did the first time I bought from the LFS.

[hubris007]

I add this stuff by the bucket full.

[theaquaticlife]

That should be the product of the YEAR!

[Lowej82]

just a little FYI for everyone fishman has 20% off on LS sale going on. The have some of the black LS also.