eBay Live Sand

[djxtc21]

has anyone tried this?

what do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Lbs-Premium-...ultDomain_0&hash=item230522c38c#ht_5930wt_958

 

[KathyC]

I'd be concerned that they might be taking it from too near a beach and it could possibly be compromised from what people leave on the sand.

It is also not necessary to buy 'live' sand. A cup from an established tank (that has no pest issues) and dry aragomnite sand will seed itself in short order and save you a ton of money.
Most of the pre-packaged 'live' sands that you see on store shelves hold only a very small amount (and low variety of different types) of the critters you want in your sand.

I'd buy local and not have to worry about what I was buying.

 

[djxtc21]

thank that is exactly what I was concerned about

just curious if anyone has really used this stuff. The buys reviews on ebay were great.

But who knows if they are real, or if they are from knowledgable reefers

 

[qy7400]

I got all my sand from Marco Rocks, 40lb box comes out to 75 cents a lb vs the eBay one at 83 cents.

 

[seldin]

Ebay is a funny thing.

I found an item, with a no name brand. The seller had all of these great reviews. He responded with a question in 1 hour.

Then, I bought the item, it broke within 1 day. He never returned my many emails, even though it was on the web site and before I bought item, he returned it quickly.

He even had the warranty displayed on the advertisement. Finally, 6 months later, Ebay, gave me some money back for my trouble. Ebay was a major pain.

I thought I would have no problems, because the warranty was so displayed on the ad.

Well, I was wrong.

Now, I have bought other stuff from Ebay and no problems.

You never know.

That's why I like a credit card rather than paypal your done.

However, as I said, I bought many items on ebay and no problems.

PS. I bought expensive live sand from the web and never saw any life.

What I do, is take a cup of live sand every 6 months from a LFS that I trust.
Right away, I see more pods, etc.


Good luck.

 

[Staaan]

It is also not necessary to buy 'live' sand. A cup from an established tank (that has no pest issues) and dry aragomnite sand will seed itself in short order and save you a ton of money.
.

When you say short order Kathy, about how long would you say?

I think I'm definitely going to do this with my new tank...

 

[Mattl22]

Kathy I am also interested how long do u think for the live sand to move into the dead sand?
Also while where on the subject is it the same for live rock to dead rock?


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[Lenny718]

It should take a few weeks for all the sand to become "live" and yes you can seed your dead rock with live rock and it will all become live in time. The amount of time it takes varries from tank to tank but it doesn't take to long and if your starting a new tank you shouldn't be in a rush anyway .

Kathy and others will chime in

 

[KathyC]

It should take a few weeks for all the sand to become "live" and yes you can seed your dead rock with live rock and it will all become live in time. The amount of time it takes varries from tank to tank but it doesn't take to long and if your starting a new tank you shouldn't be in a rush anyway .

Kathy and others will chime in

Lenny has it right
All depends on the size of the tank - the smaller the tank, the faster it will all become live, also consider the depth of the sandbed. Of course, the more live sand you add, the faster it will happen. Bacteria in a sandbed can multiple every 2 days..amazingly fast!!

Someone mentioned 'dead' sand...if you are thinking about using dead sand (as opposed to new unlive sand), I'd be very careful about rinsing the heck out of it first to get all of the crud out. The other chance you take with dead sand is not knowing how much phosphates it may have absorbed in it's prior home (that will leach back into youir tank, very possibly causing algae issues). Personally, I'd pitch it and get new sand.

Rock - takes longer, but not by much, pre-curing it before you put it in the tank is always a good idea if you have the time.
Base rock is also a good option (dry rock, uncured, and has no pests, no phosphates, no color - it's white/beige & cheaper than most other rock)

Going to mention one other thing - coralline....you can also 'seed' coralline by scraping bits of it off a rock with coralline the color you like (yes, it comes in different colors ) It can be red, orange-ish, pink, and a bunch of shades of purple. As long as you have stable Ca/alk/Mg - at the correct levels - you scrape some off the chosen rock and it will seed onto your other rock. It is a slow process..good flow also helps here, but well worth it in the end. Some of the colors are stunning and it does set the backdrop for all of your corals
Purple Up can easily throw your parameters out of whack..you don't want go there...

Going to quote what Lenny said above and it applies to all I said:

The amount of time it takes varries from tank to tank but it doesn't take to long and if your starting a new tank you shouldn't be in a rush anyway .

Oh, so very true!!!

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Also,did you read his feedback?Not so good either.

 

[KathyC]

One last thing..what is a guy in Michigan doing with so much Caribbean sand that he can ship it in 30lb increments?? Call me skeptical.

 

[djxtc21]

his reviews were great, and the 2 customers whose bags came ripped got new bags shipped out to them for free

thats what I was wondering as well


He says its collected sand that they then keep in their system for awhile



For some reason I have a feeling that this is like Southdown play sand they they keep in their system for a few weeks

 

[Fantom555]

I get all my sand on ebay....its a seller that titles his sand something along the lines of "live sand+rotifers....excellent quality and very cheap. I have used him a few times, comes within a few days...