Sand from the beach

[Anonymous]

Anyone brought sand back from the beach for their tanks to diversify their sandbeds? Initial thought I had was no way then I thought that is what the ocean uses. Positives or negatives anyone can think of. Anyone ever done this?......RR

 

[Anonymous]

RR,

I wouldn't do it. Mainly because beach sand is primarily silica-based, not clacium-based, so you'd be just asking for diatoms blooms, and doing nothing to add to your tanks calcium and buffering capacity. Secondly, beach sand could be full of lots of nasties, from disease organisms to industrial pollutants. In the wide world, the amounts present in the beach sand may not make a big difference, but in our small enclosed systems, their presence could be disasterous.

Not worth it, IMO.

Kevin

 

[Anonymous]

positives are: huge diversity of micro and macro fauna, and fine sand granules.

Negatives are: oil, slude, wastes, pollutants, silicates, etc....



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My 180 Utopia: Updated 5/10/00

 

[Anonymous]

Roadrunner,

My concerns with live beach sand would be.

#1 Pollution, Sand collected from many accessible beaches would be potentially polluted.

#2 Unknown sand constitution. I.e. particle size, mineral constitution, (silica based,) (Yes I know you can use silica sands)

#3 Also the fauna that is native to a particular beach sand, might not be suitable for a reef tank. I.e temperature range.

Have having said this, Some of the commercial product is gathered from beaches. (Live & Dead)

Calling Dr Ron.

Regards,

Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Since this subject has come up again, on the subject of silica sand:

#1 Yes it will not provide any CA buffer.

#2 It is a myth that silica sands will dissolve in seawater and promote diatom growth. This form of silica is stable. Silica sand is what glass is made of.

I have set up tanks with silica sand beds, and had no diatom problems. My preference is for aragonite sands, but silica sands work fine.

Here is an article that that addresses this subject.
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen9.html

Regards,

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scott D Passe (edited 12 May 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 100 gal tank that have a 6 inches sand taken from the Corpus Christi Bay in South Texas. The sand is about 1/2 finely broken shells (less than 1 mm in longest dimention, and irregulars in shape) and the rest are fine particles both silicates and Ca base. The sand bed was seeded also with sands from several other tank include sand from James Wiseman's and Eric Borneman's tanks. I mention James's tank specificly because his tank have great diversity in the sand bed.
My tank is doing very well with great diversity in the sand bed that is visible durring the day and at night. I think the thinking that Ca base sand stabilize pH and Ca is way over rated. I think we wated to keep the pH of our tank at atleast 7.8 or above. At this pH, there is minimal if any CaCO3 disolve in the tank.
I do not see much drawback in using the beach sand other than it is usually not white like Ca base sand. I do add Ca and Bicarb into my tank with Ca(OH)2 solution and will use a Ca reactor in the future.

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Minh Nguyen
Visit my reef at:
http://sites.netscape.net/austinnguyen/homepage

 

[Anonymous]

Minh,

I agree that the pH levels that we see in the water area of our tanks, the dissolution of aragonite is minimal.

But I also believe that in the bottom layers of a deep fine sand bed, the pH levels, because of the presence of CO2, reach levels that are approaching that seen in a CA reactor. I.e sufficiently low to devolve useful amounts of aragonite.

I will be placing a pH probe in the bottom of the sand bed, of my new 180 project, so stay tuned.

Regards,

Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Here's another way to look at "beach" sand. Here in North Carolina, we average a couple of hurricanes a year which erode the beach. The sand that replaces the eroded areas is trucked in, dumped, and leveled off. It's not "reef" ready. Take a hard look at the area you live in and listen to the community news on how the beach is maintained. Now, if you're diving 300 yrds away from the shoreline, I'd think that would be another matter...

 

[Anonymous]

As far as dead sand goes - If I were to collect sand from an isolated beach (not in the States) and boiled it - would that remove pollutants?

 

[Anonymous]

Remember, beaches are the protein skimmers in the ocean. The waves crashing on the beach and foam created is performing the same function.

You should get it from off shore several miles around reef areas preferably. Of course you need a license to do stuff like that in FL.

Keith

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Visit Keith's Reef

 

[Anonymous]

SeaDubai if you boil the sand you would kill all of the life in it maiing it dead sand again. the reason for getting live sand is for the life in it. HTH

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My 180 Utopia: Updated 5/16/00

[This message has been edited by FishTechie (edited 17 May 2000).]

 

[Anonymous]

RR,
I would hesitate. Sounds like others have had success, but xv's point is well-taken. We vacation on NC beaches every summer and I hate to think of what's coming out of those drain pipes! Anything from Neuse R. to Cape Fear is STILL draining hog waste and other pollutants from Hurricane Floyd.

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sanity is overrated!

 

[Anonymous]

RR,

Where are you? It kinda depends where the sand is from... Now...if you're from Idonesia...

Cheers
James Wiseman

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Reefs.org Channel Operator

 

[Anonymous]

James:

I'd be going to a Town called Cherry Grove in South Carolina for vacation. Just North of Myrtle Beach. I did bring back a few small sand burrowing clams (3-4 mm across) last year. 3 or 4 that I saw lived for at least 2 months. Haven't seen them in a year so either they are still buried or died or someone made a snack of them.

My thoughts (if I do this----which does not seem to promising at the moment) was to get enough sand to make a sandbed in my 30 gallon sump. Thought it might add to the biodiversity and I wouldn't have to worry about the brown color of the sand since it was in my sump.

What about trying to collect just some of the smaller animals in the sand?

Thanks for all the input...........RR

 

[Anonymous]

RR,
Nice, quiet beach! There's some great spots for paddling all around there, esp. back in the marshes - the birds are fabulous, and ocassionaly you can get a dolphin to come check you out.

As for the sand, still concerned about all those condos and drains. The critters may be alright, unless they are contaminated themselves w/mercury or some such thing, and get eaten by something else. Check around the base of pilings for an Atlantic Blue Crab. They're pretty interesting...

[just kidding of course!!!]