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txstateunivreefer
Tue, 30th Jan 2007, 02:26 PM
Anyone ever ordered that ebay live sand?? thinking about doing a dsb in my 72 bow have 60lbs so far and need alot more to make my diamond goby happy

jroescher
Tue, 30th Jan 2007, 11:25 PM
You don't really have to worry about buying 'live' sand, especially from Ebay. Sand is frequently listed on MAAST by people taking down thier tanks, and usually a LOT cheaper than online, especially when you factor in shipping. And it doesn't have to be live sand either. If you have live rock, it will seed the sand and make it 'live'. Also, there are plenty of people here that you will give you a cup or so of live sand which can also seed your sand. Once seeded by something, it will take on a life of it's own.

My sandbed is plain Southdown (probably not available around here anymore) topped with a small layer of I don't remember grade aragonite sand. The live rock seeded it, and you've seen how alive it is now. You probably don't want to put Southdown in an existing setup because it will really make a mess of you water until it settles. Stick with a reef grade sand. It's cleaner.

If you feel like a trip back to Lockhart, I'll give you a cup or so of sand.

txstateunivreefer
Tue, 30th Jan 2007, 11:35 PM
well i already have about 60lbs of sand that was that agrolive indo pacific black and im assuming its still alive can i get just rinsed sand from the lfs and put it in instead? also on a dsb i want my base rock on the glass(bottom) right

jroescher
Wed, 31st Jan 2007, 12:46 AM
The short answer is yes, you can put rinsed sand in it. The rock doesn't need to be on the bottom, the issue is STABILITY. Keep in mind that critters will dig underneath the rock and make it unstable. My rock is on top of the sand, just buried really deep into it. I try to move the rock around just a bit occasionally to make sure it's seated well when something has undermined it. If the rock is on the bottom I would suggest something like starboard underneath it to pad it from the glass.