Live Sand question

[kenkht]

I have a couple of questions about Live Sand(LS):

1) To make the sand substrate 'live' do I need to buy commercially available live sand (arag..something..) or will the sand become 'live" with time.

I understand Live rock but don't quite understand LS.

2) BTW, I check the pricing of LS and they are expensive here in Singapore. In US, for USD10 - USD30 can get a 10lb pack. Here, I've seen selling at SGD160 /10lb at ReefDepot. I hope I am wrong! Are there any cheaper alternatives here?

If not my mother-in-law will have to lug back a pack for me since she is going to the US

Thanks

[Clownfish]

if u r planning to start a tank, by having a cycling period will make ur sand 'live'...

'live' usually means having nitrifying bacteria to reduce ammonia to nitrite n to nitrate... however, buying a commercial live sand may contain more than bacteria, many other organisms may still be alive too... as matter of fact, live organisms will also get into ur tank through live rocks that u buy for cycling

thus, live sand shortens ur cycling period n prevent massive die-offs from live rocks... if budget is a constraint, u can always do without it, else u can always mix a small packet to 'seed' ur sand bed... but then again, u can always get a handful of sand from an established aquarium to seed as well

another purpose would be that it dissolves very slowly of pH falls below 8.2 unlike corals chips which is below 7.8 (dunno rem wrongly a not)... thus sort of buffers ur pH... but then again, maintaining pH is not such a difficult thing either

[xersion]

can we went to the beach and get sand? just a curious question

[kenkht]

if u r planning to start a tank, by having a cycling period will make ur sand 'live'...

'live' usually means having nitrifying bacteria to reduce ammonia to nitrite n to nitrate... however, buying a commercial live sand may contain more than bacteria, many other organisms may still be alive too... as matter of fact, live organisms will also get into ur tank through live rocks that u buy for cycling

thus, live sand shortens ur cycling period n prevent massive die-offs from live rocks... if budget is a constraint, u can always do without it, else u can always mix a small packet to 'seed' ur sand bed... but then again, u can always get a handful of sand from an established aquarium to seed as well

another purpose would be that it dissolves very slowly of pH falls below 8.2 unlike corals chips which is below 7.8 (dunno rem wrongly a not)... thus sort of buffers ur pH... but then again, maintaining pH is not such a difficult thing either

Thanks for the reply.

How about culturing pods and other beneficial creatures? Do they hitchhike on LR or LS or do I need a "solution" to seed it?