Natures Ocean Sand

Has anyone ever used this brand?

 

I started my 30 gallon reef tank with Natures Ocean live sand 3 years ago ....looks great, vacuums well, and a good color and consistency.

 

added it to my refugium a month ago so far so good

 

if you are runing a calciam reactor and you dont have any sand shifters it turns to concrite. other then that is a good i have freinds that use this sand and they love it

 

Unless the live sand comes straight from the manufacturing line none of the bags will have any living bacteria in them. Those bags sit on the warehouse shoulves for who knows how long then who knows how long the bags have been on the pet store shelves. The bags are also completely sealed. This means no air will be circulated through the bag. No air means no live bacteria. You will also be spending more on less sand due to the water weight. Don't waste your money on live sand. Buy a few bags of sand and ask someone for a hand full of sand. Anyway, once you add your LR the LR will seed your sand. Overall, "bagged live sand" is a gimmick that companies use to try to get inexperienced people to buy their products.

Using things such as Instant Ocean bio-spira, Bacter Boost, Organic Sand Boost, Nitromax, Nitromax Marine, Bio-zyme, Bacter-vital, Nutrifin cycle, reef biofuel, Micro Bacter 7, and reef biofuel is also a no-no. They will only work as long as you use them regularly. They second you stop your tank will crash. This is because these give your tank a "false" cycle. When you stop using these products your "natural" bacteria that should be in your tank is not and your tank will not be able to support your stock.

Don't fall for gimmicks. Take things nice and slow and do them right the first time. You will wind up spending more in the long run.