Use it or loose it, Caribbean Live sand?

[robertifly]

I've been running my tank pretty much bare bottom 2 yrs but ready to change thing up a little by adding some Ocean Direct live sand but have some questions:
1. question is what kind of shelf life does this sand have I mean I got a 40lb bag from BRS and I trust that, then I have a 5lb bag I don't have any Idea when or where I got it but it hasn't been opened yet!
2. question I've got lots of pretty, porous, white dead rock that came from past setups that has been out in the elements for several years and washed clean by mother nature that I have taken inside and blown out with compressed air I want to use in the tank as well, I don't see any reason not to use it, anyone see a problem with it?
Thanks in advance, rif

 

[Indymann99]

No reason you cant add your “sterile” rock. It has no bio to decompose so will just provide additIonal surface area for bacteria. I just did a restart of my 120g with used rock from 10+yrs ago.

 

[robertifly]

Thanks for your answer Indymann99, anyone that knows about that "live" sand as far as how
long is it good for to use?

 

[bushdoc]

The “ best before date “ should be on the package. About 2 years.
I wouldn’t put much trust in bacteria biom there, though.
It is still a good sand, but if you want biodiversity, you should go for fresh sand from the sea, like TBS sells.

 

[robertifly]

The “ best before date “ should be on the package. About 2 years.
I wouldn’t put much trust in bacteria biom there, though.
It is still a good sand, but if you want biodiversity, you should go for fresh sand from the sea, like TBS sells.

Thanks Doc I wasn't aware of that sand I suppose one would only need a good sample to mix in with other sand?

 

[srobertb]

As I understand it: You have an established tank you want to add sand and “dead” rock to. Don’t worry about whether the sand is “live” or not. Your well established existing live rock will seed the sand quickly. The rock you want to add is inert and will be fine too.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Go ahead and add the sand, I would rinse it though to be honest. Ive seen several of those bags harboring mold. The bacteria that would have been in that sand at one point are more or less gone anyway. Use the sand, buy a bacterial additive if you want to seed it quickly. But if it were me, id just dose some microbacter7 after the sand and call it a day.

 

[Tired]

That sand isn't going to be live any more, but it /is/ sand. Sand doesn't go bad. If what you're after is a sandbed, rinse it and pop it in.

 

[robertifly]

Thanks Doc I wasn't aware of that sand I suppose one would only need a good sample to mix in with other sand?

A date code would be fantastic is anyone has seen said code clue me in on what it looks like and how to read it. I'm familiar with some date codes but I don't see anything on either of these two bags I have however there are color strips across the bottom of the bag however if they are date codes I don't know the key to read them. I've searched the bags top to bottom but can't find any "good until code such as 3/3/2023" any help is appreciated.

 

[Tired]

You have a cycled, mature tank. It doesn't matter if the bacteria in the bag is still present in any amount, you don't need that. It's got nothing to contribute.

 

[robertifly]

sand is sand I understand that but I still don't see any date code. I wasn't planning to keep any of my current rock in the tank but I suppose I could a couple of pieces what I want to do is layout and build my rock outside the water if possible I would glue parts of it and pin other parts using some short lengths of acrylic rod that I have. What is a good stick'em to use to hold rock together that is reef safe? Thanks to all for helping on this project, rif.

 

[Tired]

Your best bet for securing rocks together is to use both superglue gel, specifically the gel kind, and your choice of reef epoxy. Make a sandwich with gel glue on either side of a piece of epoxy, use that to stick the rocks together, and those suckers won't come apart for anything. The epoxy forms to the shape of the rock, while the glue provides the sticking power, and you wind up with a combo that's practically stronger than the rock itself.

 

[robertifly]

Thanks Tired, Im cleaning and adding sand today, also will be working on shaping to fit rocks also. I never gotten ANY of the reef epoxies to stick and deemed them useless but I'll try your method, planning to put rock into tank next Saturday if not before.

 

[Tired]

Reef epoxy is great for filling in gaps, but terrible at sticking. Add the glue, which is great at sticking and terrible at filling in gaps, and you have a winning combination.

 

[robertifly]

That makes sense I'll try to find some locally, not much around here.