live sand and live rock question

[eums]

i am in the planning stages for a 55 gal reef. i have some exp with fresh water, i had a pond with rainbow trout and a brook trout, it was successful they grew to over 14 inches and then were released. the pond has since been filled.

i currently live at the beach [huntington beach, CA] and was considering collecting sand for my lsb? can this be done. i assume i would need to clean it some how or sift it to remove the unwanted debris and add the small shell pieces back later.

i would like to be able to get this sand and clean/use it (mostly because of cost and i want a 5-6 inch deep sand bed) and then just seed it with some live sand and one of those starter kits, i forgot what they are called

can lava rock be used as a base rock to grow it into live rock, say with 5-10 lbs of live rock to seed the tank, also what other rocks will do the job, i know lime stone is one, is sand stone another ? the reason i ask is because its not heavy and it can be had for a low price [ a place down the street has a ton of it] and can be shaped to almost any shape i want. [time is not a concern with this if it takes 2 months to seed the rock and i save $250 i am all smiles]

also any one know of friendly knowledgeable stores in the area so i can just walk in and look around, talk and mostly learn.

thank you

 

[mountainbiker619]

Eums,

There is a great store near you. It is called Tongs.
714-842-2733
8976 Warner Ave
Fountain Valley, Ca 92708

 

[Tankless in Dubai]

I had the same idea but I when I collected some sand from the beach I was horrified at how filty, black, dirty and full of junk it was. It was completely unuseable.

 

[Anonymous]

I had the same Idea too

I didn't do it because out of all the people who answered my questions about it, both here and at Wetwebmedia.com, no one recommended it.

Bryan

I used southdown

 

[Anonymous]

I used the Caribbean aragonite sand. If your going to have blue/yellow tailed damsels or anyother known digger, use something more coarse. I had to move two damsels to my main tank and everything is covered in sand now.

 

[saltnmyeye]

Hi you can use sterilized play sand, like southdown that knucklehead used, and it is very cheap. about $2.00 for 40 pounds. You can get it at any home improvement store, and seed this with live sand. and a word of advice. when putting the sand in place a flat rock on the bottom and let the sand ease out of a plastic cup. It will cloud the water but it will settle out. After the sand gets a coating of bacteria on it, it will settle out quite fast, about 2 weeks.

 

[eums]

i found the south down saind from a friend of mine , jasion boland, he has an amazing 180 gal and set me up wit hthe guy he got his southdown from.