Good idea? Taking a small sample of Hawaiian sand home to seed tank.

[reefer_yyc]

Just want to get some perspective as i am new to the hobby. I am currently in Hawaii and have a newly cycled tank at home. Is it a good idea or bad idea to bring a small amount of sand home to help seed the tank? I’m talking about a handful of sand.

 

[dstockwell]

Well it would have to come from further from shore, packaged in water, and maybe It will make it. Don’t think a hand full would be near enough.

 

[Jekyl]

Sealed with water and temp controlled would be ideal. Make sure to grab on the way to the airport. Also check local customs and dnr laws before doing so.

 

[bshonesy]

Just want to get some perspective as i am new to the hobby. I am currently in Hawaii and have a newly cycled tank at home. Is it a good idea or bad idea to bring a small amount of sand home to help seed the tank? I’m talking about a handful of sand.

Just be aware, everything in that sand that survives the plane flight (i.e., good bacteria yes, but also protozoans (potential fish and/or coral parasites), algae, etc) would be going in your tank where it may or may not have the proper consumers/predators present to keep it in balance like it does in Hawaii. Also I believe I read that it might actually be illegal to remove sand from beaches in Hawaii. People were taking so much from the black sand beaches that they actually noticed the loss if you can believe that, at least that’s the story I remember reading. I kindof like the idea of the aquabiomics live sand that you can buy that is tested for parasites. Something to think about if you’re looking for a more controlled source of biodiversity.

 

[reefer_yyc]

Just be aware, everything in that sand that survives the plane flight (i.e., good bacteria yes, but also protozoans (potential fish and/or coral parasites), algae, etc) would be going in your tank where it may or may not have the proper consumers/predators present to keep it in balance like it does in Hawaii. Also I believe I read that it might actually be illegal to remove sand from beaches in Hawaii. People were taking so much from the black sand beaches that they actually noticed the loss if you can believe that, at least that’s the story I remember reading. I kindof like the idea of the aquabiomics live sand that you can buy that is tested for parasites. Something to think about if you’re looking for a more controlled source of biodiversity.

This is along the lines of what i assumed. Some it it will die so I’m only dropping in the most aggressive and hardest to kill stuff.

 

[mfinn]

I'm not sure it's legal to take any amount of sand from a beach in Hawaii

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I highly doubt a handful is enough to "seed" anything in perfect condition. The other 99.9% of bacteria in the tank will outcompete anything new...

 

[Piscans]

it prolly wont do anything . it wouldnt be a problem, but its basically pointless

 

[Pkunk35]

Supposedly taking parts of Hawaii back can invoke the Pele’s curse of bad luck.

Pele's Curse is the belief that anything natively Hawaiian, such as sand, rock, or pumice, will bring bad luck on whoever takes it away from Hawaii.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele's_Curse

for real tho, live ocean sand would be amazing for diversity i suppose both good and bad…why not just pick up a small amount of “aquarium” live rock or sand from hobbyist/vendors which will basically produce the same effect with a lower risk of something negative like a pest or algae coming in (all the while skipping the bad luck…)

wish I was in Hawaii!

 

[landlubber]

whether or not its legal i'm unaware. regardless, you can accomplish a similar task just by seeding your tank with rock from another hobbyists system plus you gain the benefit of knowing whether or not the tank has had pests.
I actually firmly believe this is a good plan if you started with dry rock.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I really, really don't think you're gonna get anything bad from it...it will just do nothing positive or negative. If I took 1 capsule of the absolute best probiotic blend of bacteria for humans available do you think that 1 capsule taken one time would actually do anything for my health? It's the quantity that's the issue...if you added a handful every day or week for the next X amount of months or years then yeah it'd be a great idea but 1 handful of sand containing a completely unknown bacterial count and unknown diversity would serve no benefit...

 

[Pkunk35]

Just want to get some perspective as i am new to the hobby. I am currently in Hawaii and have a newly cycled tank at home. Is it a good idea or bad idea to bring a small amount of sand home to help seed the tank? I’m talking about a handful of sand.

I really, really don't think you're gonna get anything bad from it...it will just do nothing positive or negative. If I took 1 capsule of the absolute best probiotic blend of bacteria for humans available do you think that 1 capsule taken one time would actually do anything for my health? It's the quantity that's the issue...if you added a handful every day or week for the next X amount of months or years then yeah it'd be a great idea but 1 handful of sand containing a completely unknown bacterial count and unknown diversity would serve no benefit...

very curious what @AquaBiomics thinks about this whole thing and the benefits of something like adding a single scoop of sand to an entire tank and if that would benefit/accelerate the tanks maturation process.
One thing for sure tho is this is a very old practice in the hobby

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

very curious what @AquaBiomics thinks about this whole thing and the benefits of something like adding a single scoop of sand to an entire tank and if that would benefit/accelerate the tanks maturation process.
One thing for sure tho is this is a very old practice in the hobby

There's a YouTube video where Aquabiomics states that many tanks become less diverse on average as they age due to competition between species and better suitability of aquarium conditions to certain bacteria...it has the right idea in mind but the quantity and diversity of what's added would definitely matter

 

[brandon429]

better seed: u take home a bottle of seawater.

that tiny handful of sand has organisms not selected for reef tanks, or you'd already have some.

the bacteria on the other hand/a matter of chain of command sourcing that you'd be bypassing and those items stick really well into the biofilms already selected for marine substrate. heck if you were my neighbor and would bring me back a HI ocean water sample that's clean and offshore I'd pay about fifteen bucks for the effort. I would specifically add that into my old pico reef. the sand I wouldn't care anything about.

 

[Tcook]

Just order it from Indo-Pacific

 

[mfinn]

Just a google search turns up this quote;

And that's a very risky endeavor, as taking sand from any beach in Hawaii is punishable by fines upwards of $100,000. This includes Papakolea Beach, also known as Green Sands Beach, and Punalu'u Beach, which is famous for its black volcanic sands.Aug 20, 2019

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Just a google search turns up this quote;

And that's a very risky endeavor, as taking sand from any beach in Hawaii is punishable by fines upwards of $100,000. This includes Papakolea Beach, also known as Green Sands Beach, and Punalu'u Beach, which is famous for its black volcanic sands.Aug 20, 2019

This is my personal opinion and nothing more but imo the penalties for things like that are a joke because I guarantee you many people have taken shells, sand, etc. as souvenirs from Hawaii and there's not a cop in the world who would actually fine someone steeply for attempting to take just a handful of sand...let's just take the ridiculous sum of $100,000 for what it is: a joke. They almost certainly chose it just because it's a very large round number meant to scare people.
Imo laws should be strictly enforced as they are written. The sum of the fine should be directly correlated with the amount taken and enforced whether it's grandma taking a souvenir or someone selling it on the black market. Penalties shouldn't depend on who you are, they should depend on the degree of the crime. Sorry for the rant, but that's just a ridiculous fine for the crime. I'm sure it says somewhere you can also be imprisoned...

 

[FourPawz]

This totally brings back memories of the Brady Bunch tiki episodes LOL!

 

[mfinn]

This is my personal opinion and nothing more but imo the penalties for things like that are a joke because I guarantee you many people have taken shells, sand, etc. as souvenirs from Hawaii and there's not a cop in the world who would actually fine someone steeply for attempting to take just a handful of sand...let's just take the ridiculous sum of $100,000 for what it is: a joke. They almost certainly chose it just because it's a very large round number meant to scare people.
Imo laws should be strictly enforced as they are written. The sum of the fine should be directly correlated with the amount taken and enforced whether it's grandma taking a souvenir or someone selling it on the black market. Penalties shouldn't depend on who you are, they should depend on the degree of the crime. Sorry for the rant, but that's just a ridiculous fine for the crime. I'm sure it says somewhere you can also be imprisoned...

I think there has to be some sort of deterrent. I agree, keep it proportional to the specific item. But keep it high enough to be costly.
Last year Hawaii had 1.1 million visitors. If even half took a few handfuls of sand, the amount is huge.
A person is taking part of the islands home with them that doesn't belong to them.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I think there has to be some sort of deterrent. I agree, keep it proportional to the specific item. But keep it high enough to be costly.
Last year Hawaii had 1.1 million visitors. If even half took a few handfuls of sand, the amount is huge.
A person is taking part of the islands home with them that doesn't belong to them.

Not saying it shouldn't be illegal but they make a mockery of the law when it's loosely or improportionally enforced...I'm sure plenty of people did commit the crime of taking some sand...ive never been to Hawaii but find it hard to believe they search people for sand when leaving and I'm also sure NONE of them paid $100,000. It leads to a lack of respect of other laws if it isn't strictly enforced and they aren't going to charge anyone $100,000 so why write that specific amount into law?