The Puffer Forum

Livesand is special: Companies get to sell mostly ammonia filled dead bacteria water, and that contributes to the net weight. So they get to sell less sand for more money.

sevenyearnight wrote:Livesand is special: Companies get to sell mostly ammonia filled dead bacteria water, and that contributes to the net weight. So they get to sell less sand for more money.

So in the future, should I just buy the same sand I would for freshwater?
If so, how can I make it "live"? I would assume that's where some live rock might come into play?

For that matter ... I live in Florida. I have tons of free sand all around me.
Could I just use some sand from the beach and rinse it very well?
I always wondered, but never researched it.

Also, could I use beach sand for freshwater? (e.g. my DPs, just put it on top of the existing gravel?)

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it seems to be relative and could be informative to someone else

CyberBob wrote:

sevenyearnight wrote:Livesand is special: Companies get to sell mostly ammonia filled dead bacteria water, and that contributes to the net weight. So they get to sell less sand for more money.

So in the future, should I just buy the same sand I would for freshwater?
If so, how can I make it "live"? I would assume that's where some live rock might come into play?

For that matter ... I live in Florida. I have tons of free sand all around me.
Could I just use some sand from the beach and rinse it very well?
I always wondered, but never researched it.

Also, could I use beach sand for freshwater? (e.g. my DPs, just put it on top of the existing gravel?)

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it seems to be relative and could be informative to someone else

Cyberbob you can actually use the sand by the beach, but I think the accepted procedure on this forum is that you got to wash it and then bake it at high temperatures (I think around 400 degrees please correct if wrong) for a few hours first. A easier way to get the sand is to use Aragonite sand instead(it also helps steady the ph to be around 8 which isn't that important for dp but is useful for gsp), and the way to make "live" sand is to use cured LR (just like you said) and that will seed the sand with actual life, instead of dead bacteria.

Yep just what puffy said. The baking of the sand is to kill any harmful bacteria that could be in the sand

Hmmm ... I think I might just have to try that.
I even know a couple spots for "sugar sand" (in my backyard hehe)
But, perhaps I would want a sand that is more coarse.
I'm sure they would love the soft sugar sand, but it would prolly be hard to clean.

It also kills any good bacteria in the process, but it isn't worth the risk. I understand
it's been a while, but I think the way to wash it was a 5g bucket and the tub.
slowly let the water flow so the sand doesn't come out, keep going until the water is clear.
is that the process? did I miss anything?

Thanks

to the OP: funny you named your GSP pierre, when i had my GSP i named it "rush" because of george "rush" st. pierre nice looking puff btw. hes chunky already so i dont think it will be an issue but if you can keep and eye out on his poop and make sure its not like white and stringy. is that a white spot he has by his mouth or is just possibly a reflection of light in the second picture?

They call it live sand, because it used to be live. Just like they can say live bacteria in a bottle, because it was live when they placed it there.

Welcome Alice