Tampa bay live sand

[thoughtknot]

Added Tampa bay live sand to my tank that crashed months ago, tested it this morning and everything is lower than it was before adding. Am I safe to add my livestock back to the tank yet?

 

[Fish Fan]

When did you add the sand, yesterday? I would personally give it another day or so just to see how it shakes out, but that’s just me.

 

[thoughtknot]

When did you add the sand, yesterday? I would personally give it another day or so just to see how it shakes out, but that’s just me.

I added the sand yesterday, I’m surprised how fast it worked honestly. I’ve been trying to get this tank up and running for 4+ months after it crashed and nothing has worked other than adding the new sand

 

[Subsea]

Could you be more specific than “everything is lower”? Details matter.

What was fish load and how are they being cared for now?

 

[rtparty]

When I setup my current tank it developed a bloom in the water. Nothing crazy just always a little hazy. I added TBS and the very next morning it was totally clear. Crystal clear. Adding that much surface area and good bacteria will absolutely work wonders overnight

 

[thoughtknot]

Could you be more specific than “everything is lower”? Details matter.

What was fish load and how are they being cared for now?

Ammonia 0
Nitrite between 0-1
Nitrate between 2-5
The only thing I had in the tank pre crash was a mantis shrimp that died due to the crash

 

[thoughtknot]

When I setup my current tank it developed a bloom in the water. Nothing crazy just always a little hazy. I added TBS and the very next morning it was totally clear. Crystal clear. Adding that much surface area and good bacteria will absolutely work wonders overnight

Yea this live sand is crazy my nitrates went from over 50 to 2-5 within a day of adding the sand, can’t recommend it enough. Might have to get more for my other tanks soon

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Yea this live sand is crazy my nitrates went from over 50 to 2-5 within a day of adding the sand, can’t recommend it enough. Might have to get more for my other tanks soon

Have you ordered their rocks before? The quality of their rocks is unbeatable!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yea this live sand is crazy my nitrates went from over 50 to 2-5 within a day of adding the sand, can’t recommend it enough. Might have to get more for my other tanks soon

I'm suspicious of the reality of that result as I don't see a reason for it. You might have had a little nitrite that read as a lot of nitrate and it got converted into a little nitrate.

 

[thoughtknot]

Have you ordered their rocks before? The quality of their rocks is unbeatable!

Yea I ordered 16 pounds of live rock with the sand, as I loved the rocks from my previous order.

 

[thoughtknot]

I'm suspicious of the reality of that result as I don't see a reason for it. You might have had a little nitrite that read as a lot of nitrate and it got converted into a little nitrate.

Every nitrate test I did before adding the sand was a dark red, I tried the API test kit and the Red Sea and they showed about the same number

 

[BryanM]

Every nitrate test I did before adding the sand was a dark red, I tried the API test kit and the Red Sea and they showed about the same number

With all the info out here, a dramatic magic potion of live sand and this spectacular of a change in a day, well, I am highly suspect.

That said, woohoo for you at the moment. But I'd wait a week and test every day, or every other day, to verify levels, before I add things back.

 

[Fish Fan]

I’m genuinely asking, when you say your tank “crashed” what happened? I’m asking because it sounds like you had only a Mantis and possibly TBS rock/sand before your most recent order, which is typically a recipe for success.

 

[BryanM]

Have you ordered their rocks before? The quality of their rocks is unbeatable!

Can't argue with their product, but I went with Gulf Live Rock, better prices, and near as I can tell the products are on par with each other. Quite happy.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Every nitrate test I did before adding the sand was a dark red, I tried the API test kit and the Red Sea and they showed about the same number

That is because they all use the same method, a method where a little nitrite is INTENDED to read as a lot of nitrate.

I cannot be 100% sure that is the issue, as opposed to test error or something else, but I am very confident the live sand did not deplete 45 ppm of nitrate overnight.

Nitrate kits work by converting a small fraction of the nitrate to nitrite, then they detect the nitrite, and multiply back up to get to the final nitrate answer.

If there is some nitrite present at the start, the kits will detect it, and multiply up that small amount into a false high amount of nitrate.

It is very plausible the live sand depleted a small amount of nitrite (less than 1 ppm). It is not plausible it depleted 45 ppm nitrate.

 

[thoughtknot]

I’m genuinely asking, when you say your tank “crashed” what happened? I’m asking because it sounds like you had only a Mantis and possibly TBS rock/sand before your most recent order, which is typically a recipe for success.

I had a mantis shrimp, some live rock from my lfs and Caribbean live sand. Everything was running good for a while then it molted while I was at work and died. Didn’t noticed till the morning when I got home. After that I couldn’t get the nitrite and nitrates to go down. I tried Fritz turbo start 900, dr Tim’s, PNS bio, and a bunch of water changes.

 

[Fish Fan]

I had a mantis shrimp, some live rock from my lfs and Caribbean live sand. Everything was running good for a while then it molted while I was at work and died. Didn’t noticed till the morning when I got home. After that I couldn’t get the nitrite and nitrates to go down. I tried Fritz turbo start 900, dr Tim’s, PNS bio, and a bunch of water changes.

I’m sorry to hear about your mantis. If you have live rock even from your LFS, it’s possible you have a hidden predator that got your Mantis in molt.

But what you’re describing sounds like maybe a high nitrate problem, I don’t think your tank “crashed” in the disastrous sense, if that helps.

 

[thoughtknot]

I’m sorry to hear about your mantis. If you have live rock even from your LFS, it’s possible you have a hidden predator that got your Mantis in molt.

But what you’re describing sounds like maybe a high nitrate problem, I don’t think your tank “crashed” in the disastrous sense, if that helps.

I never found anything in the live rocks and the mantis shrimp was pretty big, I’m just glad that the live sand is actually doing something