Infauna help!

I have had my aquarium for about 2.5 months now. I have about a 5 inch layer of sand on the bed which is about 50lbs argonite and 20lbs live sand. I put the live sand on top of course but I still haven't seen any types of life from the sand bed. I have read that their should be brittle stars, tube worms, and other things that should be filtering the sand.

Do I need to buy these seperate? I thought thats why I paid big bucks for the "live sand." Or does it just take longer for them to emerge.

Params are all 0, if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the help! This is my first post to this awsome forum!

 

Have you added live rock? You are more likely to get the critters you mentioned from the rock than the sand.

 

Welcome to 3Reef..

Live sand is hit or miss at best. Most on here will tell you it is a complete waste of money. I however have had a couple bags that were jam packed with all sorts of critters. You just never know.

Mainly, live sand is good for the bacteria that is in it.

It has always taken several months before I started to see signs of life in there.

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef. The "live" in live sand is reffering to the beneficial bacteria that is present in the sand which helps to start the nitrogen cycle. Tube worms, brittle stars and pods etc usually hitchhike on live rock or sand from an established aquarium.

 

LOL I was a little slow on that one...

 

IMO....live sand is just wet sand. There is extra bacteria but that doesn't mean that your going to get pods and starfish with your "live" sand. Life needs air. Even stars and pods. The bag is air tight without circulation, nothing is in it but sand and bacteria. Bacteria was probably created by the death of what was alive. How long do you think those bags sit on a shelf at a fish store, or get shipped in -10 degree to 110 degree weather? Live sand....Ha! They should just market it as wet sand!

If you want life in your tank, get some macroalgae from someone's sump, or buy some live rock from a local reefer or the fish store.

 

Ahhh I see. I have never thought of the bag suffocating all the life in there, just assumed they were fine.....murderers....lol. And I have added live rock. I guess I was just looking to get more for my money. This saltwater addiction has really taken over my wallet...lol.

Thanks for all the help, you guys are great!

 

Agreed, live sand is a waste of money. I've not known anybody to get any macro life from retail live sand.

 

I have got macro life from it before. The sand was special ordered for me direct from CaribaSea. It contained all sorts of cool little worms.

If it had set on a shelf for a long time, I am sure it would not have had near as much life left in it.

 

My very first tank, I had only live sand in it for a couple of weeks. Caribsea in a bag from Petco. Had all kinds of stuff in it (must've been fresh!). Since then, nothing! LOL
Had that first little bag not had stuff in it, I probably wouldn't have gotten hooked on the hobby as quick as I did...I'd watch sand for hours seeing tiny critters all in there! I did notice this time around that the bags have expiration dates on them. So, you should have a pretty good idea of how long they sit around!