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Does "live sand" go bad?

tygunn

tygunn

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I am looking at using Caribsea Bahamas Oolite sand in my 90g tank. Everywhere I look its around $29-35 for 20lb. Petco (of all places) has a pretty good price listed of $17.99 for 20lb:
http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/dog-signage/caribsea-arag-alive-bahamas-oolite-aquarium-sand

My only concern with ordering from Petco is that I'm guessing they don't fly through this type of stuff and its probably old stock. Does anyone see concerns with this? I know the last bag I got was packed wet.
 
Hmmm, yeah reading some of the reviews on their website:
"Some bags were getting dry with algae visible. I returned those."

So sounds like the stock can probably be old.
 
I can't speak specifically on sand, but in general Petco rotates stock at a very fast rate. I have a friend that is a manager at Petco and their system is actually very robust for getting old stuff out very quickly. The amazing thing is what they do with stock that's more than a few weeks old -- it gets tossed out. That includes discontinued stands, aquariums, supplies, etc. They are not allowed to give it away or take it home, and it's not returned to the distributor. They literally wheel out brand new stuff and toss it in the dumpster on a weekly basis.
 
Huh, okay then maybe I'll just take advantage of this amazing price. BRS wants $35 for 20lb. $17 for 20lb is a steal, and having it shipping right to my door rather than having to schlep down to the store sounds like a win.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
I can't speak specifically on sand, but in general Petco rotates stock at a very fast rate. I have a friend that is a manager at Petco and their system is actually very robust for getting old stuff out very quickly. The amazing thing is what they do with stock that's more than a few weeks old -- it gets tossed out. That includes discontinued stands, aquariums, supplies, etc. They are not allowed to give it away or take it home, and it's not returned to the distributor. They literally wheel out brand new stuff and toss it in the dumpster on a weekly basis.
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Lol, dumpster diving anyone!?!
 
Okay, I CANNOT complain about that. $87.50 taxes and shipping included after a $15 online coupon for 100lb of Caribsea Bahamas oolite, shipped right to my door. BRS base price would have been $170, not including shipping.
 
I would strongly advise not wasting money on "live sand". Just buy a high quality dry sand and add a cup of live sand from someone elses tank or better yet, some live rock rubble or something. Even if the sand begins live, sitting anoxic in a bag for months is more likely to produce hydrogen sulfide than helpful bacteria, IMHO.

I used 60lbs of dry sand and bought 1lb of refugium rubble/chaeto from Neptune's and was able to cycle the tank quickly without any trouble.
 
I didn't buy this as much because it is live sand, but because its the right grade of sand. I really like the super-fine sand and the crisp white look of the aragonite sand. In the past you could get aragonite sand at home depot in some areas, but I've never suceeded in finding it.

Lol, Petco only charged $5 for shipping my 100lb order, so I think they're probably losing out on me.
 
Flagg37 said:
I've always been afraid of getting the wrong kind.
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I've tried a few types over the years. Back in 2005 with my 140g I used an aragonite that had loads of larger chunks mixed in. When I did my Solana years later I tried caribsea special reef grade which was much larger grains. I found it wasn't as nice looking and sifted just as much. My current 34g has the same sand I just ordered and I've been really happy with it so I figured I'll use it for the 90g.


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tankguy said:
I saw a bag of live sand in a petco once and it looked very nasty , so Im going with yes if it sits in the bag long enough it may go bad
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I had leftover caribsea special reef grade in the past and it started to grow some mold after sitting for a couple years sealed up. I guess not surprising that the water could go nasty.
We'll see how this stuff looks when I get it. I imagine worse case I can always rinse it.... and absolute worse case I have to toss it (I doubt shipping back 100lb of sand would be cost effective).
 
tankguy said:
I couldn't believe some manager told the employee to put it out to sell. Yes it looked that bad
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I think any job like that is bound to get the people that just don't care. Lol. I remember when I was working at Wendys in high school someone served a completely raw hamburger. Just didn't care enough to even look. Lol

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The sand arrived. Factory packs unopened. Expires in 2018. All is in perfect condition. Great deal!!

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