can I trust stored live sand?

Ballyhoo · Aug 30, 2024

i'm just wondering if it's safe to use carib sea live sand from an open bag ( twisted closed) that I had put in storage actually underneath my kitchen sink in the original bag?. My concern is that it's been a couple of months and maybe it would develop other bio that I would not want to introduce into to my tank? I.e. should live and be introduced into the aquarium fresh from the store when you buy it?

timmyrules · Aug 30, 2024

I’ve done that exact thing…bought a bag of live sand, used half, came back 6 months later and used the rest….everything was fine

jabberwock · Aug 30, 2024

Potentially a risk. What else do you store in that space? How well was it closed? How much have you already invested in your tank? These are questions I would ask myself...

GARRIGA · Aug 30, 2024

Have a supposedly sealed bag inside a sealed food container of salt in air conditioned room that turned into a brick of salt. Can't really trust any seal since air already introduced and also need to consider how the original sand was sealed which means air contamination may or may not be a thing. Know that algae labs go through extreme steps to purify their strains against airborne unwanted.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Aug 30, 2024

Ballyhoo said:
i'm just wondering if it's safe to use carib sea live sand from an open bag ( twisted closed) that I had put in storage actually underneath my kitchen sink in the original bag?. My concern is that it's been a couple of months and maybe it would develop other bio that I would not want to introduce into to my tank? I.e. should live and be introduced into the aquarium fresh from the store when you buy it?

As others have said, it should be fine. Open the bag and take a sniff - if it doesn't smell putrid, I'd use it.
Are you putting it in an established tank or a new one? If new, I definitely would not hesitate to use it even if there was some anaerobic growth.