Frozen Live Sand Delivered...still OK?

[Corriebh]

Hey guys,

I ordered a small bag of live sand online and it arrived frozen solid (it is about 7 degrees below zero without the wind chill in WI today). Think it is still OK to use? I am assuming everything is dead that was "live" in the sand, but how do we know that any live sand we buy from anyplace wasn't sitting in a warehouse some place that was cold? I would assume any temp below like 60 degrees would cause items to die off in the live sand.

I should also note that I am putting it into a new Nano tank that I am setting up, one that does not have any critters and will need to sit for a while to go through the nitrogen cycle.


What do you guys think?

[Sk8r]

Some in the heart of it may be live, but it's going to be a problem. Ok to use, yes, but the main benefit of the bacteria in that sand will be as dead biomass to feed the survivor bacteria. It'll work, just not what you paid for.

[Corriebh]

I agree not worth what I paid for it, but it was a small bag and I am not sure if the hassle of the return will be worth it.
It just got me thinking about how "Live" any sand that we buy anywhere could be. I am not sure if it needs to be kept at a certain temp and how do we ever really know how it got to the store?

[Sk8r]

That's pretty well right. SOmetimes it's good and sometimes not. Main life source tends to be your rock.

[gone fishin]

I agree with SK8r. Once it thaws it should be ok to use just not what you paid for. FWIW anything live I order from the spring to the fall. Never know what kind of weather we will get here in Wisconsin in the winter.

[Corriebh]

I just looked at the bag and it has "expired", the bag said best if used by Aug 2014. Again not sure what that really means but it looks like I will be sending it back. Two strikes is enough for me :)

[julie180]

Maybe they will give you a refund and not want the sand back :) Then you could just rinse it well and go ahead and use unless it smell really bad once it thaws.

[Chungy]

This is one of the reasons why I use dry sand for all my tanks after the first. Its questionable how much "live" stuffs you are actually getting from them. So for the last couple of tanks I started, I have been using dry sand and raise them really well with tap water, then do a final rinse with RO and just dump them into the tank. Like Sk8r said, main source of life is your rock or whatever you are using to seed the tank.