What is live sand?

[dennster]

Hi,

Pardon me for asking this, I'm new into this hobby. What is live sand? Are there any differences between normal sand from the beach and live sand? What is the grading of the sand all about? I'm thinking of setting up a 1.5ft cube, what is the recommended grade of sand to be used?

[cdckjn]

Hi,

Pardon me for asking this, I'm new into this hobby. What is live sand?

Live sand is sand that is not dead sand actually sand that has been in someone's fish tank for a while is live sand.

Are there any differences between normal sand from the beach and live sand?

if you mean scooping it from the beach while the sand is still in the seawater, eh .. personally I will not do it as there may be a lot of impurities especially in Singapore's water. It also may contain a lot of unknown bacteria and stuff which you may not wnat in your tank. also the sand is rather big and not uniform in size unless you want to sit there are sift them according to sizes.

What is the grading of the sand all about? I'm thinking of setting up a 1.5ft cube, what is the recommended grade of sand to be used?

If think a Grade 1 or 0 sand would be ok, the smaller the number the finer the sand I think?

Actually not so difficult this live sand thingy, just get some sand from a fellow reefer, and then seed this live sand with yours in your tank while your tank is cycling is good enough to establish this "live sand". The sand is more for aesthetics rather than really function. Actually some reefers prefer a sandless tank.

[jervismun]

Firstly, there are commercially available Live Sand/Aragonite out there in the market... I myself been using a particular brand in setting up 2 tanks... partly due to the convenience of not needing to wash them before pouring into the display tank.

Some experts believe they work... some believe it's a total waste of money... it really depends on you as a consumer in the end.

As for Grade size, again it depends on what you intend to keep. As your tank is rather small, I will suggest you go for a coarser grain. As coarse as possible as grade 0 sand will give you a lot of difficulty later on when you are to advance further in the hobby hence adding more and more wave makers. With 1.5ft, it is quite hard to place a Tunze Stream in there without causing craters on the sand bed if you are to use Grade 0.

But the advantage of having Grade 0 sand is of greater aesthetic and some of your tank inhibitants will appreciate it more such as gobies, wrasses and certain kinds of inverts.

All the best!