Live Sand

Question
Unfortunatly I poured my live sand directly to the salt water. What a mess (new aquarium). I had a salt water aquarium 15 yrs ago but I never used live sand and I was told to pour the sand into the salt water.Everything is white and powdered. I looked up on the net and I noticed that I didn't do it the way I was suppose too..(oh gosh).

Should I start over!!! or let it be. My Ehiem Filter is working right now

Answer
Well first of all i can tell you that live sand is a big rip off really. the advantage live sand is said to have over normal dry sand is that it is already established with beneficial bacteria. but when it sits in a bag on a shelf in petsmart for 6 months you can gaurentee that that bacteria is no longer alive. most live sand you get is just damp play sand with a bunch of tiny shells thrown in.

but this is not always 100 percent true, there are many online retailers that sell live sand directly from the ocean floor that actually is very beneficial to a newly started tank. off the top of my head the main site i can think of is reefcleaners.com, or marcorocks.com.

as for the cloudiness of the water, i wouldnt worry one bit it will probably clear entirely within a day or two. if it doesnt they have additives you can put in the water to help with the clearing.

hope that helped!

Marcus.