Storing unused live sand for future use? Adding new live sand after a tank has cycled?

[nothing_fancy]

I am curious if one can store live sand sealed back up as best you can for future use. Also I am curious if adding live sand to an already cycled tank will cause problems. About four months ago I wanted to add a little bit of sand to make up for substrate that I had vac'd out of the tank. I added some carib sea live sand. Expectedly my water was cloudy for a few days however it was for a couple of weeks that I had white film algae on my glass. I am at the point where I'd like to once again add a little bit of new sand (I like to keep about a 1/4" of substrate in my tank evenly) Is adding from the bag of once used live sand the wrong move? Is adding from a new bag of live sand going to throw off my already cycled and stable tank? Is there a suitable substrate I can use to top off the current sand without having an ill effect of the currently stable chemistry of my system? Thank you!

 

[Nick Steele]

I would buy a bag of dry sand instead of live. Personally I’ll only ever use dry sand as I find no benefit in “live” sand unless it’s really sand from the ocean.


I always have a 40# bag in my house that I use to top off my sand level in my 20g tank. I rinse 5-10# of it in a 5 gallon bucket and let it dry out. Then I cover it and use as needed.

 

[nothing_fancy]

I would buy a bag of dry sand instead of live. Personally I’ll only ever use dry sand as I find no benefit in “live” sand unless it’s really sand from the ocean.


I always have a 40# bag in my house that I use to top off my sand level in my 20g tank. I rinse 5-10# of it in a 5 gallon bucket and let it dry out. Then I cover it and use as needed.

Thanks Nick, is there a particular type or brand of dry sand that has worked for you?

 

[bar|none]

CaribSea ARGONITE Special Grade Dry Sand
but multiple other options depending on grain size etc

 

[Dburr1014]

Rinse the sand really well and pour it down a pvc pipe if adding to an existing system.
Keeps the cloud to minimum.