Live Sand?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Most of my reefer friends & I have come to the consensus that buying "live" sand is falling for a marketing ploy.

Consider a few factors:

Bacteria is what makes "live" sand, "live".
Bacteria multiply like crazy when nutrients are present.
Before they began charging a premium for bagged "live" sand, the standard practice was to get regular aragonite sand & a cup or two of old sand from an established tank to add the bacteria into the new sandbed.
Heck, even the bacteria in your live rock should add bacteria to the new sandbed to help make it "live" eventually.
Therefore, no need to buy bagged "live" sand.

JMHO,

Anthony