Live Sand vs Dead Sand

[ILuvTropicalFis]

I am setting up a refugium and want to use live sand. I have read that live sand may not be so "live". What kind of sand should I use? I know not to use play sand that has silicates in it.

[matthewscars]

use normal agrogate and just get a cup full of sand from a established tank and seed it.

This info can also be found in the reefcentral archives.

[chimmike]

for the refugium, I'd get live sand to start it. I 'seeded' dry aragonite in my refugium and it didn't filter to potential for a couple months.

the seeding of dry sand IMO is fine in the display, but I'm doing live sand the first time around on my new setup in the fuge.

[IslandCrow]

chimmike is absolutely correct, but I don't think that's reason to not use dry sand. The problem comes with the bag live sand. There are many people who debate how "live" sand that sits on the shelf for who knows how long and generally doesn't have an expiration date can be. If you can get your hands on some live sand that hasn't been bagged, stored and shipped, that would be your best bet, but it's just not available most places. Otherwise, I don't think the extra price of live sand is worth the savings of a couple months. . .assuming that live sand you bought is really even live.

[ILuvTropicalFis]

Thank-you. Bag live sand is what I have access to and I was trying to decide if it is worth it. I suppose I just need to decide how much of a hurry I am in.

[jgreen1025]

Why not just seed it from your current 125g, 29g, or "many ten gallon tanks?" If you're looking for "new" stuff you could get some mud from the bottom of the LR tanks at the LFS.