just wondering .... whats going to happen with my new dsb

ive had my 56 coloumn for a year with live rock.. i just recentley added a 5in dsb from my beach which is my backyard.. i went into about 10 feet deep of water an took out the sand. im just wondering am i going to have to stock the dsb with critters or are they going to be in the sand already.. i just put it in today...and have no idea what size the grains are they are really small and feel silty to the touch. i have no idea whats going to happen but im pretty excited as to wht the results will be.. also will i see these critters with the naked eye.. tnx .. any tips??;D please comment .... i need a heads up.... :drive

 

If you took sand from the wild and put it directly into your tank then it's "live" and you don't need to do anything to seed it per se. It's hard to say what will or will not be in the sand, and in what amounts. It's kind of a crap shoot. The bigger issue it that wild collected sand is often a source of parasites and other undesirables that can quickly overwhelm a closed system.

That's not to say you WILL have problems by any means, many people collect in their backyards and local beaches, it's just something you should be aware of and keep an eye on. Chances are good that you will have tons of larval phases of things that will never establish, along with a mix of various worms, snails, echinoderms, *pods, bacteria, algae, and other microfauna that will go about as if they never left the ocean floor. It's these guys you have to pay attention to... some of them eat corals and other decorative life in the tank, some of them just explode in population and take over (see: aptasia, cyanobacteria, bryopsis).

Some will be benign, and others will be highly beneficial.

Also, with a DSB, you never want to disturb it once it's established... lots of nasties lurk in the deep dark sand.


-Doug

 

tnx doug

,, cant wait too see what disaster ive picked up from the ocean florr lol... fortunatley i only have abou 100 bucks worth of sps coral in the tank anf four fish all pretty much expendible damsel, clown, wrasse, royal gramma.... how long do you think before i start seeing changes? how can i see them at night .. flashlight would scare them away no? tnx

 

i know a lot of people from florida and the gulf coast do this and i would guess that if they have had bad results they wouldnt keep doing it...odds are you are probably fine because in my opinion more of the bad parasites lurk in rock or in sand near rock structure....seems like a good size grain sand and also you could use a flashlight with a red/blue lense....ive had luck with just getting a cheap flashlight and coloring the lense with a red sharpie marker

 

thank you...

i got the sand in about 10 feet deep of water and the were no rock structures around at all.. i looked on my glass and am starting to see little critters walking up on the glass.. i can only imagine waht kinda stuff i have in there, do u guys think i should stock the dsb with reef grunge anyway or would i just be wasting my money? thanks so much.....

 

you should be fine since it sounds like you have copepods/amphipods already...are the critters worm like or bug like?

 

Most of the sand on the beaches of Key West is brought in from other places. More than likely it's not aragonite either. The near shore water there is pretty dirty, and you can smell the funk on those low tides along south Roosevelt, so I never used the sand when I lived in KW.

The sand bar off the southeast side of Woman Key plus the sand at Snipes is aragonite.

HOWEVER, I'm pretty sure taking sand is illegal, so I wouldn't do it.

Not to mention the crap water quality that is killing the reef.

 

Hey maybe you got some lionfish fry in there.lol.:LolLolLol

 

the critters..........

all the critters ive seen are spiral like on the glass small roaches no worms yet.... no funky smell or discolration in my water.. actually water has never been clearer.. is the sand clearing the water also.. id say i can see about 2- 300 of thes spiral like critters stuck to the glass .. should they be there are they gonna came back down or should i scrape them so they can go down on the sand? any tips..?? tnx so much everyone..

 

Sounds like tube worms or tiny feather dusters....they're harmless, it all depends on if you like how it looks..a credit card or razor will take them off the glass

They have little red heads coming out of the tips or feather looking stuff right?