live sand?

[tgoeujon]

im starting a new 110 and i have about 100 lbs of aragamax sugar sand and this may sound stupid but i was wondering if i was to put it in the bin with the live rock as im curing it would the rock seed it or would i be wasting my time. just curious.

[Myka]

Bad idea. Wait until the rock is cured. You would be filling the sand with phosphates and other crap if you have it in the bin while the rock is curing. Also, be sure to not only check that your Ammonia and Nitrites are zero, but that your Nitrates are under 5, and your phosphates are undetectable before considering your rock "cured" and ready to go in your tank. ;)

[banditpowdercoat]

If you want something to seed your sand, I can give you a cup or 2 of my sand.

[tgoeujon]

id appreciate that bandit. thanks for the offer. and myka the rock has already been curing for approx 3 months with no noticeable spikes in the last month. im just way behind on the tank build is all. thats why i was hoping the rock would seed the sand but oh well. would the sugar sand possibly cause any kind of spike. i should probably know this stuff but i went with live sand in both my 55 gallon reef and my 20 gallon seahorse tank and im not sure what kind of difference it actually makes. would it be more beneficial to just add a small bag of live sand or some existing tank sand to the sugar sand?

[argan]

I would say go for it, getting the sand to start having good bacteria will help when you get everything into the tank to mitigate stress on the animals. Only other thing i would do is stir the sand a bit every week or so. I am going to do something like this soon for my 225.

[Myka]

the rock has already been curing for approx 3 months with no noticeable spikes in the last month.

would it be more beneficial to just add a small bag of live sand or some existing tank sand to the sugar sand?

In that case, there's no reason not to add the sand to the bin. The rock will do a fine job seeding the sand. Getting a cupful of bandit's sand wold help as well.

Personally, I think the "live sand in a bag" is bogus. The only "real" difference is that it's less dusty and doesn't need to be rinsed before being added.