Live Sand to seed Dead Rock?

reptileguy112

Feeder Fish
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Jan 12, 2014
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I just purchased a bag of CaribSea ARAG-ALIVE! from petco since they don't have the live rock I need to seed my diy live rock and was wonderig if this would seed it like lie rock would. Feedback is appreciated. I made it from portland cement, sand, and ice cream salt.
 

Thekid

Potamotrygon
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Sep 18, 2014
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I just purchased a bag of CaribSea ARAG-ALIVE! from petco since they don't have the live rock I need to seed my diy live rock and was wonderig if this would seed it like lie rock would. Feedback is appreciated. I made it from portland cement, sand, and ice cream salt.
Did you cure the lime out of the rock?
Live sand isn't live all you do is pay for water weight.

You can cure cement into live rock, however a piece buried in the garden could have all kinds of crap leached into it, I personally would pass. Use all live rock (expensive) or you can also buy dry rock from a lot of the online vendors (less expensive)
Purple up is a sham product I would never buy (my personal opinion only) all you have to do is keep your calcium, alk and Ph in line and have proper light to grow it.
I'm fairly certain it is illegal to collect rock on any US coast, and to be honest the life you will get locally is not tropical and will likely die off in a tropical tank. In California you have tons of rock coming in daily, just find a store to sell you a piece that is a pound or two, and put it in the tank with the dead rock or home made rock. In a few months you will be sick of scraping coralline off the glass and will wonder why you ever wanted it so bad.
Here is a reply that you should read and consider listening to from your other thread.


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tlindsey

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Aug 6, 2011
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Seeding as in the small critters like the coepods , and worms from the sand I would say yes. Its been years since live rock has been used, but whenever I decide to set up a nano reef I will utilize the same method your using with the live sand.:)
 

reptileguy112

Feeder Fish
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Jan 12, 2014
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California
I did not think there was lime in it. I made and molded it myself. It had been sitting in the tank for a week or two beforehand. What do you mean it is not alive? My bag of sand looked like sand with litle multicolored spots in it if you look close. I hope its alive, it was $21 for 10 lbs. My main question is will this seed the rock or do I need to get a piece of live rock?
 

Aw3s0m3

Piranha
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May 6, 2012
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It most likely won't. The sand in those bags usually sit for a while and the bacteria need water flow to stay alive so without it they eventually start dying. That sand is most likely dead unless they just got it. The best way to seed it is with a piece of live rock


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tlindsey

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I did not think there was lime in it. I made and molded it myself. It had been sitting in the tank for a week or two beforehand. What do you mean it is not alive? My bag of sand looked like sand with litle multicolored spots in it if you look close. I hope its alive, it was $21 for 10 lbs. My main question is will this seed the rock or do I need to get a piece of live rock?
Maybe you could ask your lfs if they could donate a little substrate from their reef setup to you. Explain to them what you are trying to accomplish.
 

reptileguy112

Feeder Fish
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Jan 12, 2014
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also on the rock package it says its "best" until 2016 so maybe its new. The water has been cloudy for hours with 3 filters running. Is there anyway I can tell if it was alive and if it was fresh alive sand would it seed the rock. I figured out it is called ARAG-ALIVE Bahamas Oolite.
 

tlindsey

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Aug 6, 2011
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also on the rock package it says its "best" until 2016 so maybe its new. The water has been cloudy for hours with 3 filters running. Is there anyway I can tell if it was alive and if it was fresh alive sand would it seed the rock. I figured out it is called ARAG-ALIVE Bahamas Oolite.
After water clears grab a magnifying glass , or glasses and look for life on sand , and aquarium glass . You should see coepods tiny crustaceans, maybe small worm like creatures as well.
 
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