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Culturing Live Sand Outside of An Existing Aquarium

When culturing live sand outside of an existing aquarium, we do not have to deal with the effects of stress, since there are no animals in the container, vat or aquarium used to culture the sand. This is a boon as we can now use a totally different method. This should be the preferred method hobbyists use, in my opinion, as it offers the easiest solution and real live sand at the end of the process. It also allows for the processing of large quantities of sand.

As indicated, you will need a vat or container (even an aquarium), that will hold the dead, or non-live sand, plus salt water of the same water quality parameters as the one of the tank you are going to use the sand in. The vat needs to be large enough to hold all the sand you are intending to make "live" plus at least 1/2 gallon of water per pound of sand that you are culturing. The amount of water is not that critical but half a gallon per pound of sand is, in my experience, about the lowest you wish to go.

The main reason for this is changes in water chemistry that occur during the seeding process. The less water you use, the more you will need to make adjustments to the water quality in the treating vat. The parameters that change are: the pH, the KH or dKH, the organic load of the water, and the dissolved oxygen levels, to name the most important ones.

My recommendation would, in fact, be to take water from the tank for which you are making live sand and add that water to the vat used to culture the sand in. Readjustments to the water quality may be necessary at times (I should say, they will be), but these can easily be dealt with. Details as we go along.

Below are the procedures that you will need to follow, and actions you will need to take (note that they need not all be in the order listed). You can judge the order for yourself:

• Calculate how much sand you need, using the formula at the beginning of this document (inches by inches by thickness divided by 21)
• Acquire the vat or container (as indicated, an aquarium will do the job too)
• Acquire the sand you want to make "live". Try to make sure it is silica free.
• Acquire buffer compound (a complete buffer with 5 or 6 components). TAT sells such a buffer (6 components).
• Have an ammonia test available
• Be sure to have a nitrite test as well
• It is a good idea to have a nitrate test too (for use on the actual aquarium in which the sand will go)
• Buy ammonium chloride (sold in pet stores for cycling tanks). It will usually be in liquid form but you may find that certain brands are in powdered form. Both are fine to use.
• Make sure the tank in which the sand will go is stable and doing well. You do not want to have to add sand to a tank in which there are plenty of problems
• Make sure you have enough salt as, if you use water from the existing tank you will need to replenish the water you are taking out
• You will also need to make sure you have the supplements you need for your existing tank
• Add the sand to the container
• Add saltwater to the container (either from your existing tank or new saltwater)
• Spread the sand out evenly in the container or vat you are using
• Have a device available that allows you to stir the sand on a regular basis
• Place a power head in the tank at about 3/4 height of the aquarium. The power head needs to be sized in relation to the amount of sand and water. The larger the amount, the more powerful the power head pump should be. What you are looking for is a strength that gives a real good strong current through the entire vat.
• Have a thermometer for the vat
• If you think you will need a heater, have one available too. Keep the temperature at about the same level as the one of your existing tank.
• Make sure you can measure the pH of the water in the vat
• Make sure you can measure the dKH of the water in the vat
• Have some light over the vat, although you do not need a lot. If the vat is in an area that gets daylight all day long, you will not need to put special or additional lighting over the vat

Now that you have the vat set up you will need to seed the water with ammonium chloride to start the cycling process. This is done by using the product you bought and dose the compound according to the instructions on the label. You want to build the ammonia level up to 3 ppm. All you need to do is follow the instructions, and perhaps test the level with your ammonia test.

Follow the ammonia level in the vat every day and maintain the 3 ppm level for about 6 days. All you need to do to establish the level is test. If needed, add extra ammonium chloride to bring the ammonia level back up to 3 ppm.

After this initial period of adding ammonium chloride you need not do much but you need to watch for certain parameters and above all you need to stir the sand in the vat several times a day. You can stir it a few times in the morning and a few times in the evening.

Below is what is likely to happen and what you need to do:

1. If the dKH level drops below 7, add buffering compound to bring it back up to that concentration. Use the buffering compound you acquired and use the directions that come with it to determine how much you need to add. Test after you have added the compound but wait a while (45 minutes or so) before you do. Indeed the change will not be instantaneous.
2. Check the pH. If the pH drops, the reason is more than likely that the buffer has fallen and that you need to readjust it, as described in 1.
3. The first few days nothing may happen to the ammonia level because no bacteria are present yet. As a result the ammonia level will not change. Do not assume that this will remain the case. As soon as Nitrosomonas appear and grow in the sand the ammonia levels will drop. When this happens, adjust them for the period indicated above.
4. After 6 days you can let the ammonia levels drop. You have added plenty of ammonium chloride for the seeding of the sand to start and continue.
5. The next thing that will happen is that nitrite will appear in the water. That is just fine and a sign that bacteria are growing and that biological filtration is starting to occur (meaning the sand is slowly becoming alive and is harboring bacteria.
6. The nitrite levels will start rising, whereas the ammonia levels will start to go down. That is exactly what we want to happen and proof that more Nitrosomonas are present. They are the ones that produce the nitrite by conversion of the ammonia.
7. After a number of days (we cannot give you an exact number) the nitrite levels will start to fall slowly. This is just what we want as it indicates that other bacteria are now growing in the sand: Nitrobacter which convert the nitrite to nitrate.
8. You could actually verify that for yourself by doing nitrate tests on regular intervals. In the beginning, when you first added the sand and the water, the nitrate levels should have been low. As the seeding of the sand progresses, the amount of nitrate will increase. There is nothing wrong with that. It is a positive indication that the seeding is working and that the sand is becoming "live". The nitrate is the result of the biological filtration going on.
9. Do not be surprised if the ammonia readings you get are higher than the first days and do not be surprised either that the nitrite levels will be real high, maybe even off the scale that you test can measure. This is quite normal.
10. Even though I have not mentioned it for a while, do not forget to stir the sand as indicated above, and keep doing so several times a day.
11. Also do not forget to check the pH and the dKH. The pH should not fall below 7.9 to 8.0
12. On day 18 you will need to intervene again as we want to make sure that the sand is really "live" and populated by lots of bacteria.
13. What we are going to do is add fish food to the tank and let is sit in the vat to decompose and produce more ammonia and nitrites, thus giving rise to more bacteria. The amount to be added is not large and as long as you are not making hundreds of pounds of sand, all you need to add is half a teaspoon of food. Flakes is just fine. The cheapest one are all right, you do not need to buy anything special. This is done on day 18 and day 24 and that is all. The food is added to the water and mixed with it. Let it settle where it decides to.
14. As days go by, the nitrites will finally start to fall and ammonia will have disappeared.
15. Make sure you keep stirring the sand.
16. As days go by, suddenly all nitrite will have disappeared from the system. Your sand is now fully seeded and ready to be added to your aquarium.
17. When this happens do not wait more than 24 hours to transfer the sand to your aquarium
18. Waiting longer may cause a loss of bacterial and microbial life in the sand because there is no more "food" or "nutrients for them. It is important, therefore, to proceed with the transfer to the aquarium.

How is this done?

- Drain the vat of all the water you can,
- Siphon it out or pour it out,
- Get rid of the water, you have no use for it,
- Some water will remain in the sand, this is unavoidable,
- Start removing small amounts of sand from the vat and put it in a plastic bag,
- When you do so, some water will transfer to the bag as well, before you do anything else, drain that water out of the bag. Dispose of it, you have no need for it,
- When you have done so, lower the bag into your existing tank, all the way to the bottom,
- Now tilt the bag and empty the content (the live sand) onto the bottom of the tank,
- Continue doing so, filling, draining, transferring and emptying,
- Soon you will have transferred all the live sand to your aquarium,
- You now have your aquarium set up with live sand,
- When finished you may wish to lift some of the live rock in the tank up so the sand goes underneath it and the rock is not wedged in the newly prepared live sand.
- I do not want to state the obvious, but do not forget to take the vat down that you used and clean it out thoroughly. Alternatively start another batch if you need one, or are preparing some live sand for a friend or a store. Yes, you can do so and sell it to stores who need live sand to sell to their customers.

After you have done all this, and even though the schedule given runs from 28 to perhaps 35 days before the sand is actually live, there will be instances where the nitrite will have disappeared sooner. If that is the case and your sand vat does not show nitrites for at least 24 hours, it is safe to assume that the sand is now live and can be transferred to your aquarium, following the steps outlined above.

No one can predict the exact make-up of the sand you will end up with. Too many factors are involved. One thing is sure though: the sand will harbor very large amounts of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter, ensuring that ammonia and nitrite that are produced in the tank will be neutralized.

It may very well be (and I cannot be sure of this) that while the sand was cycling and becoming live, that other bacteria and microbes have grown in the sand and that you may now have sand that will also reduce nitrates in the aquarium. Testing the tank for nitrates before you add the sand, and then again a few days later will tell you whether it does or not. Note that the best way to test for nitrates is by using a dilution of the tank's water.

This is done in the following manner:

• Say the vial that you need to use for testing holds 5 ml
• Instead of filling the vial with 5 ml of aquarium water use a dilution
• Add 1 ml of water from the tank to the vial
• Add another 4 ml of distilled water
• This gives you a total of 5 ml, which is what you need
• Using 1 ml and 4 ml you have diluted the water by 5 (only 1 ml out of the total of 5 is actually aquarium water that you intend to test
• Now perform the test and note the result (most test measure in nitrogen nitrate not total nitrate.
• Know what yours measures in
• Take this result and multiply it by the dilution factor (in this case 5)
• This gives you the total nitrates but only if you test is one that measures total nitrates as opposed to nitrogen nitrate.
• If your test is one that measures in nitrogen nitrate you need to multiply the result by 4.4 to arrive at the total nitrate concentration.
• Now you know the nitrate content of the water. Use the same method for the test you do later and then compare the results.

As an example: you prepare the vial that contains 5 ml (for argument's sake, check yours and adjust the numbers if necessary)

In any event, even if your sand does not already contain the facultatively aerobic anaerobic bacteria right now, it will after the sand has been in your aquarium for a while. As time goes by, these bacteria automatically start to populate the sand in your aquarium and nitrate reduction will ensue. Testing will demonstrate this to you.

Whichever method you decide on, the end result will be that you have cultivated your own live sand and will have saved a great deal of money in the process. All it takes is time and patience. I hope this article has helped you understand how to go about the whole process. I welcome questions.

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