Where to buy Live Sand

[UFO]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know where i can buy Live Sand. Need to build a DSB for my 3ft tank. Thks

[Anthony]

go east coast beach collect the sand.

wahahahhaha

aiya go shop buy c-3 sand lah.

[kais]

- Marine life (coming this week)

- Fish shop in Queensway (opp. Shopping Centre)

kais

[UFO]

mrjoe,

Wa lor

[piero]

U can either buy miracle mud or U can order from US website which is super ex..... Up to U, see how much $$ U can spare.

[spade]

UFO

i think u want aragonite live sand?? it can only be found at sealife (as far as i know). It will set u SGD150 poorer for 10kg, they do sell in small portion like SGD15 for 1kg. u would need to use alot of them to get DSB in ur 3' setup

anyway, most of us used juz #1 (MarineLife, Queensway)sand for DSB. as with other biological filtration it takes time for it to mature

Quick Fix for ur situation:

1. sugar syrup as suggested by bawater

2. Az-No3 (this take weeks) and export it out thru skimmer

long-term fix:

lower bioload

[DragonGoby]

The live sand that marine life / sealife sells - are they the "real" live sand with worms etc or just old aquarium sand?

[UFO]

The live sand that marine life / sealife sells - are they the "real" live sand with worms etc or just old aquarium sand?

tito?!?

I have existing 2.5" dead/half dead coarse coral & no.3 sand already. Just need a thin layer of live sand withh all the live worms, infauna, blar blar blar to make my snad bed "ALIVE". So i wud need only 1-2 kg to jump start my DSB......i think

Those Ang Mo said by placing some LR on dead sand, it will also turn yr dead sand live.....how true??? No diff if i buy some LR.....it will cost abt the same if i buy those $15/kg live sand. IF they are really 'ALIVE'......sigh

[spade]

if u r talking abt this particular product, i dunno butta they do carry CaribSea sands. May be u can give Sam a call

[keithtty]

Hi UFO,

I too am starting my DSB and am currently looking for the "live" stuff to seed my tank. I was told to go to Changi at low tide, walk out and get some "live" sand. Not sure if this will work, but it seems logical. Just bought my sand yesterday. Going to use a very fine river sand and top it with #1 coral sand. Let me know if u find a better source.

BTW, where is Sam's shop?

-Keith

[hongqixian]

Arag-Alive has only bacteria. Not worth it because bacteria on live rock multiply rapidly and will live on the sand. Live sand is just sand with mostly worms and pods (tiny crustaceans). Sugar fix just causes a bacterial bloom and it cannot guarantee whether just the sand/rock bacteria bloom or other pathogenic (bad) bacteria bloom. After the sugar runs out alot of the bacteria will die off and might cause nitrates to rise a little as well.

Live rock has worms, some of which will colonise the sand given time.

UFO:

Are you sure you want a dsb? Read and then decide.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/rs/f...ature/index.htm

The basic debates on other forums are that DSBs are septic tanks, collecting organics and producing toxic sulphides and methanes that will come out after a period of time and can wipe out a tank swiftly. Your choice.

[CKS]

Hm...

CaribSea r using MarcWeiss's Vital LiveSandBooster on their 'live sand' .. u can get that MarcWeiss LSB and SeaChem argonite in Singapore .. probably cheaper to build your 'live sand' bed with that.

And like what hongqixian mentioned .. given time the 'live' from LiveRock would innoculate your sand.

[Chris]

I don't think you need to spend money to buy "live sand". A little patience and your LR will trnasform your sand into LS, with bacteria, worms and pods. Save the money

[UFO]

keith,

Hey man, I was having the same thought too, but not sure how polluted is our beach. Was actually thinking of Pasir Ris, St' John Island or Pulau Ubin. Have not been to Changi for a long time. Are u staying near there? Can give it a try, but do it in a spare tank, u dun know what pollutants in it.

Maybe we can share some live sand.

Sam is Sealife in Balestier.

[UFO]

hongqixian,

I have read abt the pro & con of DSB, though pro more than con. DSB is the cheapest way for me now. I heard a Refugium is a good solution too, but is out of my budget now. Thks for the info.

Chris, CKS,

I also read abt LR seeding & turning the sand into LS. But that means I have to first cure my LR for at leasta month. I dun have the time & LR is just as expensive man. Thks for the info too.

Anyway, my immediate & only solution now is water change.

[bawater]

UFO, since your tank is already 1 yr old then your sand is already 'live'

live means u also need the fauna living in the sand which takes a longer time to develop than the bacteria.

LR will seed the sand. The bacteria is everywhere & comes FOC,just need some time to find a home & multiply.

BUT- currently u using no.3......and that's not sand,that's boulders in the DSB world-maybe 10" of it will give u the same as 3" of fine sand. Even No.1 is quite large but mostly everyone uses this,just increase depth to 5"-6".

Maybe the sand size is a reason that u don't see worms & stuff in your substrate so far.

As hong said,Arag-Alive has only bacteria-& i too say not worth it. how u going to check that that bacteria is still alive is beyond me. How u determine 'Live' when there are no creatures living in it.

[UFO]

bawater,

yr last para is confusing me.....sorry i still blur, newbie mah

I'm going to buy some fine sand (either 1 0r 3) from Hawaii. Are those consider 'sand'???

[yazid]

bawater,

yr last para is confusing me.....sorry i still blur, newbie mah

I'm going to buy some fine sand (either 1 0r 3) from Hawaii. Are those consider 'sand'???

Use fine river sand... great for DSB. Smaller than #1. Petmart got sell.

[UFO]

Use fine river sand... great for DSB. Smaller than #1. Petmart got sell.

But if the sand is too fine, the water will get cloudy everytime my fish disturb the sand bed. The culprit is my Blue Devil

[keithtty]

Hi UFO,

I took Yahid's advice and bought the river sand from Petmart:

I intend to place the riversand below, followed by #1 sand above. My tank is totally empty currently.

-Keith

[Anthony]

how much izzit?

$6/10kg?

[spade]

keith

Welcome to SRC!

juz a reminder. the pic u posted is too big. May be u can resize it to 800x600??

u can do this by click on the "Edit" on yr post and replace the attachment with ur resized photo

[dodo]

cham ah...u never resize your attachment...i thk someone gonna replace spade & myself to change underwater world tank wif a teaspoon liao

[victorp]

The picture of that bag of river sand from Petmart is a bit fuzzy, especially around the price tag area.

Anyway, most aquarium shops sells OEM river sand for SGD8.00 for 5kg bags. If you want crushed corals (coral chips), so far Nature Aquarium is the cheapest - SGD8.00 for 10kg bags - and they have 2 sizes - smallest and smaller.

[Ian]

Are you supposed to rince the river sand before use like the other sand in our tank?