Fake Sand or Live Sand???

At my LFS they sell dry, fake dead sand that is made for aquariums. Should i buy that over live sand? i was watching LAFishGuys and in one of the episodes he said that live sand is just another thing for nutrience to catch on to and absorb to. So which do you recommend? i am starting off with dry rock and no live rock so i might need the live sand??? I could care less either way because its only a 20 gallon tank but i need to know soon so i can go buy the sand.

thanks,
ryan

 

Dry sand is sand that was once alive, but since has dried and died. If you get a cup of sand from a local reefer, it will seed the dry dead sand and make it live within days.

 

well then that defeats the whole purpose of getting dead sand... Its not the money issue its the future hassles that comes along with live sand...

 

Dead or "dry" sand just doesn't have beneficial bacteria growing on it. In a few weeks it will become "live" sand. Only difference is, if you buy live sand, it will speed up your cycle rather than waiting for dry sand to become live sand.

 

live sand it is ;D

 

Just a side note, the bacteria needs O2 and a food source to survive. How long do you think that sand has been in the bag? Chances are most of it is dead anyway. Just a waste of money IMO. Go for dead, it will become live in no time. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but really, that stuff was bagged sent to a warehouse, then sent to your store and sat on the shelf for some time. Unless it from another tank, then its really live sand.

 

IMO, "live sand" in a bag is a scam (like mentioned above) for the reasons stated above. I agree.

I'm not clear on what "fake sand" is though



Just so we're clear, sand is neither dead nor alive. It's inanimate. Like a rock or air or plastic. It's what is living in and/or around it that makes it "live"... that's really just a poorly named thing.


the life, the bacteria, this will eventually colonize every thing in your tank. sand, rocks, powerheads, walls of the glass, whatever. this bacteria is what keeps your ammonia, nitrites broken down...

so regardless of what you put in, it will become "live". A sand bed enables a more extensive collection of microscopic life that you want than not having one...

I'm not sure how this will compare against "dead" sand and "fake sand" if there's any difference there (maybe you're using dead and fake interchangeably?)

 

sorry for being unclear, but when i say fake or dead sand i mean like the home depot play sand one might buy, but made for an aquarium... thanks for the responses. keep the opinions coming!

 

Thank you, there are a lot of misconceptions about "live" rock and "live" sand, what it is, what makes it live etc. Your spot on, I just want to add to emphasize the fact that you don't need to "seed" your tank with anything to finish or start your cycle. I hate when people use that term, if your worried about coraline algae, various micro organisms and other beneficial organisms, don't. They will come. They will come in from coral frags, colonies, macro algae, rock etc.

Now, to the OP, I would be cautious about sand bought at a hardware store. It may be ok, but you don't want a silicate based sand, which is what is carried by many of those stores.

 

wth is fake sand ?