I would probably use well rinsed dry sand because I am not really convinced at how lively live sand in a bag actually is. You already have a substantial bacteria population in your tank and it will QUICKLY colonize any new sand you add. I do agree with adding it a bit at a time. You can secure a funnel to a rigid tube and use this to deliver the sand exactly where you want it to go.
i,ve decided against the live sand and have bought 25kg of dry silver sand, it looks just like ordinary builders sand only its a bit finer, so the end result will include,
about 1/4 red sea aragonite spheres, 1/4 live sand, 1/2 silver sand, i,ll add the new sand at a rate of 1kilo every other week to be on the safe side, i,m also now in the process of building a new cabinet next to my display tank to house a sump tank of around 56 litres, around 14 us gallons, (MORE TO FOLLOW) i,ll post some pics when its finished,
I agree, you're probably wasting money you can spend elsewhere buying that bagged "live" sand. In my opinion the stuff that truly makes it live is more than the bacteria, and that likely won't survive being bagged and on a shelf for that long. Get dry sand and spend money on something better for your tank. You can really save money if you do like I did and ask your local reef club if anyone has sand lying around. I did that and got enough live sand to put a DSB in a 55gal and still have half a 5gal bucket left over.
after all the problems i have had with my tank i,e hydrogen sulphide, i now have my inverts back in the tank, they have been in there about a week now, that was the 4 hermits 2 cleaner shrimp and a snail, which are all doing fine, i put in to that aswell 2 orange clowns 3 yellow tailed damsels and a lumark angel, all are also doing very well and are both eagerly accepting brine shrimp and granular food, my lumark angel is also greedily picking at the little bit of green algae i have on the rocks, with time i,m sure he will eat the lot. also when i put my live rock back in to the main display tank i have noticed a few baby cleaner shrimps which are also thriving which is good news for me, i think this sump tank i set up is defo doing a good job the algae (calurpa cheto and i not entirely sure what the other one is) but its taking off like wildfire, i,bet within a week and a half i,m gonna need to get in there and start harvesting it, quite unbeliveable how quick yhis stuff grows, anyway just thought i,d let you all know how its going,
and thanks once again for all who replied to my problem.
bearusa, awesome! Just remember to dispose of your caulerpa responsibly. It can be a radically invasive species if introduced into the water. Best bet is to freeze it and then throw it away
__________________ Brian
Man I am HOOKED on DIY...I'd build me a fish from scratch if I could
Hey, that is great news! You may know this but just in case, don't neglect to harvest the caulerpa on a regular basis to keep it from going sexual. I harvest mine every couple weeks.
Hey, that is great news! You may know this but just in case, don't neglect to harvest the caulerpa on a regular basis to keep it from going sexual. I harvest mine every couple weeks.
i have heard this stuff needs to be harvested, by that does it mean to just cut it back, i was also told to leave the light on 24/7,
Hey Bear. Yeppers to your Qs.... trim it back and it's ok for the 24/7. Some people, such as myself, run the lights on the macros at night/opposite of DT lighting. I've been doing this because of summer and to manage heat concerns. It's worked well for me.
I usually run my lights 24/7. I have read that plants need at least a few moments of darkness (something to do with the photosynthetic process) and I try to turn the fuge light out for a few minutes a couple of times a week. There have been those times when I have forgotten to turn them back on and it did not cause any problems.
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Yeppers to your Qs.... trim it back and it's ok for the 24/7. Some people, such as myself, run the lights on the macros at night/opposite of 
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