Can i use a cup of wet sand from the beach?

[DrewBrees713]

So, can i do that to seed my tank? I plan to get like 2-3 cups of wet sand, put them in a stocking and when im done cycling i can remove it if need be.

 

[KrisReef]

Yes, but you never know what you'll get with the sand.
I would grab some water and run it through a 5 micron filter sock before I'd bring home sand if I was going to seed the tank that way. Much less chance of unwanted crud, imo.

 

[Fumanchu]

Spend the 10 dollars and buy any one of the numerous bacteria in bottles

 

[James M]

Just ask the lfs for a cup of sand

 

[DrewBrees713]

Spend the 10 dollars and buy any one of the numerous bacteria in bottles

Bought 2 for my other tank. Didnt notice much of a difference. I think theyre snake oil because bac need a food souce, some need air. Neither of which is available in a sealed bottle.

Just ask the lfs for a cup of sand

LFS sand has ich

 

[Cherub]

Bought 2 for my other tank. Didnt notice much of a difference. I think theyre snake oil because bac need a food souce, some need air. Neither of which is available in a sealed bottle.

I used fritz and my tank cycled in a week. Its not snake oil. One year later no complaints. You can also buy live sand from BRS if you don't trust the bottles. I've cycled with those as well many times over 8 years in the hobby. I've never been patient enough for a slow dead shrimp cycle

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You can use the sand yes. But it’s most likely not to have enough organics to rot and make much ammoina.

Bottled bacteria is not snake oil btw.

If you wanted , you can just use pure ammonia. The bacteria will naturally form. That’s science.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Borrow sand from friend or club member. A couple cups of sand could cost you a couple hundred dollars in headaches if you inherit something foreign into your system which stands a good chance.
Dr. Tims sells a good live culture that does work or Fritz turbo start 900

 

[vegamedic]

If you wanted , you can just use pure ammonia. The bacteria will naturally form. That’s science.

what exactly is the science of nitrifying bacteria spontaneously forming after introducing ammonia into salt water?

 

[Dr. Reef]

IMO sand will bring more nasty's than good, not likely a lot of beneficial bacteria especially as a beech which is mostly the trash dump site of the ocean so i think bottle bacteria is a better option like mentioned above.
BTW i used to believe bottles were snake oil and i went and busted the myth and am still in process of doing more studies.
Fritz turbostart 900 brought 8 ppm ammonia to 0 in 2 days.

Here are links to 2 of my current studies.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacteria-in-a-bottle-myth-or-fact.403226/
Results on page 20

On going study in coalition with Seneye monitor
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacteria-in-bottle-busting-myth-seneye-style.456820/

 

[User]

Bought 2 for my other tank. Didnt notice much of a difference. I think theyre snake oil because bac need a food souce, some need air. Neither of which is available in a sealed bottle.



LFS sand has ich

Bacteria can go dormant and survive without a food source or air for years if prepared right. I can seed a culture with bacteria that has been sitting on filter paper in a binder on a shelf for 5 years.

I’ve used biospira to cycle a 180 gallon tank in 9 days, start to finish. You just need to do it right. Pure ammonia food source, keep below 3ppm, feed every 2 days until they process 2ppm in 24 hours. Then bring your bioload up slowly so the colony can expand in line with waste production.

Microbiologist, btw.

 

[lapin]

IMO sand will bring more nasty's than good, not likely a lot of beneficial bacteria especially as a beach which is mostly the trash dump site of the ocean so i think bottle bacteria is a better option like mentioned above

After the hurricane im sure a whole bunch of chemicals from all the businesses down there have just added more junk to the beaches. If that is even possible in Galveston.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

what exactly is the science of nitrifying bacteria spontaneously forming after introducing ammonia into salt water?

Same as a rotting shrimp.

 

[Dr. Reef]

these bacteria are present in air in water in soil everywhere ready to colonize. their sole job is to convert ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates..
They live in exact same proportion as the ammonia produced. These bacteria can double the size of colony in 15 hrs.
This is why when we cycle a tank we give it a boost of ammonia which starts the bacteria to double triple etc their size to whatever it will take to convert and once the source is gone they will die off and come back down to where they can barely survive in numbers.

 

[DrewBrees713]

I have my doubts about bacteria in sealed bottle,vial,tube etc. As i understand it, from microbiology 101 in college, IIRC most bacteria need an immediate food source to sustain and some need air- just like most of the living things here on earth. The only way i know to get around this is dried freeze bacteria to keep them dormant, but the ones im referring to are in liquid bottles. I could be wrong.

 

[User]

I have my doubts about bacteria in sealed bottle,vial,tube etc. As i understand it, from microbiology 101 in college, IIRC most bacteria need an immediate food source to sustain and some need air- just like most of the living things here on earth. The only way i know to get around this is freeze fried bacteria to keep them dormant, but the ones im referring to are in liquid bottles. I could be wrong.

Yeah, you’re wrong. Sorry [emoji6]

20 year career phd level microbiologist here. What I said above is an accepted part of the field, particularly for environmental bacterial species like the ones we are talking about.

 

[Dr. Reef]

I have my doubts about bacteria in sealed bottle,vial,tube etc. As i understand it, from microbiology 101 in college, IIRC most bacteria need an immediate food source to sustain and some need air- just like most of the living things here on earth. The only way i know to get around this is dried freeze bacteria to keep them dormant, but the ones im referring to are in liquid bottles. I could be wrong.

I used to think the same. Please take some time to go through the 2 studies i am conducting. I know its 50 some pages but trust me its full of good information and very surprising results.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have my doubts about bacteria in sealed bottle,vial,tube etc. As i understand it, from microbiology 101 in college, IIRC most bacteria need an immediate food source to sustain and some need air- just like most of the living things here on earth. The only way i know to get around this is dried freeze bacteria to keep them dormant, but the ones im referring to are in liquid bottles. I could be wrong.

Yea. You are. It’s ok. We all learn new things.

 

[User]

I used to think the same. Please take some time to go through the 2 studies i am conducting. I know its 50 some pages but trust me its full of good information and very surprising results.

Combined with the the word of an actual real life PhD microbiologist... I think you can trust us...

 

[vetteguy53081]

what exactly is the science of nitrifying bacteria spontaneously forming after introducing ammonia into salt water?

Nitrifying bacteria aka the good or beneficial bacteria, are present after successfully cycling a new tank. Nitrifying bacteria provide natural biological aquarium filtration and are responsible for breaking down organic waste within the fish tank, Thereby transforming ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrates. Nitrifying bacteria consists of two bacteria species which are separate, but dependent. While the first strain settles as soon as ammonia is present, the second one settles as soon as nitrites are present.
One can imagine oxygen as a garbage collector which under low oxygen levels, the bacteria uses nitrite and nitrate as an acceptor which reverses the process from nitrifying to denitrifying (removal of nitrates).