Ocean direct live sand grain size?

[Mebbid]

I bought a 40lb bag of original grade ocean direct live sand, and the grain size to me is tiny.

I added some special grade sand i bought to bulk out my sand bed a little and you can see how huge of a difference it is. I double checked that what i bought wasnt oolite. Is this common with that sand?

 

[Subsea]

Not familiar with “original grade ocean direct live sand”

Its size looks like oolite to me.

Help me understand what “ocean direct live sand” is.

I am familiar with “diver collected live sand”. What is “ocean direct live sand”?

 

[slingfox]

I bought a 40lb bag of original grade ocean direct live sand, and the grain size to me is tiny.

I added some special grade sand i bought to bulk out my sand bed a little and you can see how huge of a difference it is. I double checked that what i bought wasnt oolite. Is this common with that sand?

Where did you buy your live sand from? What you show in the picture does not look like live sand collected from the ocean.

 

[BriDroid]

I have it in my nano. It’s a mix of tiny dust sized all the way to 1/2” shell pieces. On my new tank I’m going with special grade because of the small size of grains in there.

This is what Caribsea says about it:

 

[slingfox]

I have it in my nano. It’s a mix of tiny dust sized all the way to 1/2” shell pieces. On my new tank I’m going with special grade because of the small size of grains in there.

This is what Caribsea says about it:

Got it. Somewhat deceptive / confusing naming used by CaribSea. This is not live sand form the ocean as sold by Tampa Bay Saltwater. This is sand which has been cleaned, sterilized and then added to a bag with water and bottled bacteria. It looks like it is a mix of all sizes. Probably no way to know ahead of time it would come with so many fines given the description list 0.25-6.5mm as the typical size!

 

[rtparty]

Got it. Somewhat deceptive / confusing naming used by CaribSea. This is not live sand form the ocean as sold by Tampa Bay Saltwater. This is sand which has been cleaned, sterilized and then added to a bag with water and bottled bacteria. It looks like it is a mix of all sizes. Probably no way to know ahead of time it would come with so many fines given the description list 0.25-6.5mm as the typical size!

False.

Ocean Direct is pulled directly from the ocean, not sifted (thus the multiple grain sizes), kept moist, and put in a breathable bag.

 

[Mebbid]

I have it in my nano. It’s a mix of tiny dust sized all the way to 1/2” shell pieces. On my new tank I’m going with special grade because of the small size of grains in there.

This is what Caribsea says about it:

Got it. Somewhat deceptive / confusing naming used by CaribSea. This is not live sand form the ocean as sold by Tampa Bay Saltwater. This is sand which has been cleaned, sterilized and then added to a bag with water and bottled bacteria. It looks like it is a mix of all sizes. Probably no way to know ahead of time it would come with so many fines given the description list 0.25-6.5mm as the typical size!

It is, does have an improved selection of bacteria for aquariums tho.

 

[slingfox]

It is, does have an improved selection of bacteria for aquariums tho.

Okay good to know. I never knew this sand existed!

 

[DexterKarin]

It is like mine, a little smaller grain than Figi Caribsea. I liked it. Had different little shells and whatnot in it. Some say it blows around. Mine doesn't.

 

[rtparty]

Okay good to know. I never knew this sand existed!

It’s a decent in between and I like to mix it with TBS sand to make it cheaper.

Other live sand is exactly how you described above. It’s dried out, sifted, added to FW with FW bacteria. There is nothing “live” about it

 

[slingfox]

Okay good to know. I never knew this sand existed!

It’s a decent in between and I like to mix it with TBS sand to make it cheaper.

Other live sand is exactly how you described above. It’s dried out, sifted, added to FW with FW bacteria. There is nothing “live” about it

Yes that sounds like a great option. I will try a mix too if/when I set up another tank. The ocean direct stuff from TBS/KP Aquatics/etc. is great but can get pricey! Nice to have alternatives.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I did the exact same in my 125 just a couple days ago. I added one 40 lb bag of CaribSea ocean direct sand, and about 30 lbs of special grade dry sand on top. The ocean direct is definitely smaller in grain size, but mine also came with a couple bivalve shells up to 2" in size. The two sands mix together nicely, and I'm really happy with the result.

This article as part of the BRS biome cycling series - definitely a video series worth watching if you haven't yet - found that at 10 weeks, the tank they started with dry rock and CaribSea ocean direct sand scored in the 80th percentile of all tanks in terms of microbial balance. This suggests those microbes really do help set up the tank for success.

 

[Mebbid]

I did the exact same in my 125 just a couple days ago. I added one 40 lb bag of CaribSea ocean direct sand, and about 30 lbs of special grade dry sand on top. The ocean direct is definitely smaller in grain size, but mine also came with a couple bivalve shells up to 2" in size. The two sands mix together nicely, and I'm really happy with the result.

This article as part of the BRS biome cycling series - definitely a video series worth watching if you haven't yet - found that at 10 weeks, the tank they started with dry rock and CaribSea ocean direct sand scored in the 80th percentile of all tanks in terms of microbial balance. This suggests those microbes really do help set up the tank for success.

Thanks for the heads up on that, looks like im gonna have to add a little more.

 

[UncommonSense]

Here’s what .25mm actually looks like:

For context, I just measured a single human hair at .04mm…

— I’d like to see stuff THIS small classified out… maybe .5mm minimum grain size!

 

[Mid_Reefkeeper]

Got it. Somewhat deceptive / confusing naming used by CaribSea. This is not live sand form the ocean as sold by Tampa Bay Saltwater. This is sand which has been cleaned, sterilized and then added to a bag with water and bottled bacteria. It looks like it is a mix of all sizes. Probably no way to know ahead of time it would come with so many fines given the description list 0.25-6.5mm as the typical size!

Caribsea has three products that are sort of similarly named.

Dry sand - sifted and obviously dead. Cheap and consistent size

Arag-alive - dry sand that’s sifted and then basically rewetted with saltwater and “bacteria in a bottle”. Consistent size and a “good enough” level aliveness for nitrogen cycling.

Oceans direct - pulled from the ocean and bagged. Most alive and diverse but you get what you get in terms of grain size. I’d expect it is less likely to have higher life forms (worms, bivalves, etc) than pulled from the ocean and overnighted sand but still should have good microbial diversity. It’s cost for a real “live sand” is pretty reasonable.

 

[slingfox]

Got it. Somewhat deceptive / confusing naming used by CaribSea. This is not live sand form the ocean as sold by Tampa Bay Saltwater. This is sand which has been cleaned, sterilized and then added to a bag with water and bottled bacteria. It looks like it is a mix of all sizes. Probably no way to know ahead of time it would come with so many fines given the description list 0.25-6.5mm as the typical size!

Caribsea has three products that are sort of similarly named.

Dry sand - sifted and obviously dead. Cheap and consistent size

Arag-alive - dry sand that’s sifted and then basically rewetted with saltwater and “bacteria in a bottle”. Consistent size and a “good enough” level aliveness for nitrogen cycling.

Oceans direct - pulled from the ocean and bagged. Most alive and diverse but you get what you get in terms of grain size. I’d expect it is less likely to have higher life forms (worms, bivalves, etc) than pulled from the ocean and overnighted sand but still should have good microbial diversity. It’s cost for a real “live sand” is pretty reasonable.

Great summary!