Help with live rock and live sand purchase

[jwavec]

I am about to purchase some live rock and live sand from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I am wanting to also add some marshall Island rock for diversity and also some substrate to my live sand to help offset some of the cost. Which live sand should I purchase, is it OK to do this about 50% live sand and 50% substrate? Thanks.

[CarmieJo]

Yes, using LS mixed with dry sand is fine. You can also save some $$ if you use a combo of LR and base rock.

[Rob]

IMO, you can use all dry, base sand, and then add your LR. the LR will seed the sand and you will save money. i have not used the LS from Tampa Bay Saltwater, but i know the stuff in the bag from the LFS.. yeah, i dont really think thats stuffs worth much.

[jwavec]

when you say dry, base sand are you referring to Aragonite sand at the LFS or am I misunderstanding you?

[Rob]

yes, im stating dry sand as in regular aragonite sand that is not "live sand"
basically my point is i feel that the stuff sold from the LFS as "Live Sand" is a waste of money. im not saying the stuff from Tampa Bay is the same, i have never used it.. i know they do have a very good reputation on there rock, but i dont know about there sand.

[CarmieJo]

I agree, how live can something that is sitting in a bag on the shelf be? You can also always get a fellow reefer to give you a baggie of sand from their tank. This helps to increase the bio-diversity of your sand too.

[NeO]

You can go all dry rock and dry sand like Rob and Carmie said, we have a sponsor in the board that has some of the best dry rock I have seen.
The only thing will be add couple lbs of live rock to seed the "dry rock" and you will be good to go in a month or so.

[V]

got to love that "live" word again, kinda reminds me of the americans "world series" in which the whole world actually play with you....um.... ..yeah!

just BS tags placed on products to sell & make people money, scrap that, more money, like yogurt...97% fat free, hello, you made a glossy statement that your product contains 3% fat in a tub small enough that i can lick the bottom, & people walking with their eyes shut are thinking its a good thing, gotcha, hook line & the bloody sinker!!! For me, a spoons a spoon, doesn't matter if gorg jensen made it, its still a friggin spoon
! OK, IN 1,2,3,out1,2,3....im good to go!

getting back to the topic, im not an overly big fan of scooping up someones live whatever, sand for example, your idea is to keep your tank free from anything unwanted & adding a cup of this, & a bundle of that can indeed pose its own problems, like are you aware of the host tank having problems.ect thus risking a possible dirrect transmission to your fresh display.

Granted we harp on about live rock sources being top notch & something to aim for, producing quicker cycle times and a more diverse & stable enviroment as a whole, but in reality, we live in the 21st chemical century & egg heads have already cultivated in more hook line & sinker packaged form products that contain the very benifical sorts of bactera we strive so hard for & yet most the time we still forking huge wads of money just to fill our cubes of water with displacement pieces.

Being that ocean sources are
a) both rock & a honny-comb apartment living for the tiny tiny and
b) bacterially alive with other teeming life forms kinda works like killing two birds with one stone.
Whats not screamed at the same pitch is the potential nasties that can hitch-hike along with your newly aquired i just had to sell the dog to pay for this Live Rock bundle. And the future lingering problems hence-forth you will have to deal with.

Dont get me wrong, im into Buying "live labled" gear, done it in the past, prob do it in the future, im just talking from a personal stand point here & would like to point out that seeding dry materials with propretry cultured products might be a viable option for new comers, that are firstly in information overload to begin with, & secondly have know idea in most cases the potential of hitting the lottery in the nasty sections of your local ocean supermarket. & thirdly bacterial manipulating in this way is both cheaper, less stressful to the wallet & the brain & your able to keep cycle times with normal parameters. To practise what i just preached, im going to make it a point to seed my new nano tank artifically.

[jwavec]

Thanks for the replies!

Veriann---your last sentenced that you planned on seeding artificially. How exactly does one do that?

[V]

different countries might have different products here so im not going to mention brand specific. Its basicly live bacterial cultures slow feeding or doment in a pre packaged solution to be added on a daily or weekly basis.