Hi Jim,

I suggest that you read at least one of these three articles:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php

http://web.archive.org/web/200208060.../1/default.asp

http://web.archive.org/web/200012122...wb/default.asp

These are all by Ron Shimek, the guy who essentially "invented" the
concept of using a sand bed to process excess nutrients in a home
aquarium. In a nutshell they each explain why there are basically
three (closely interrelated) things that are important to a
functioning DSB:

1. The range of particle sizes that make up the sand.

2. The depth of the bed.

3. The diversity of the organisms that live in and on the sand.

Subsequent to these articles being published Shimek has added a fourth
parameter: Sand bed area, saying that "edge effects" make it difficult
to impossible to maintain the necessary DSB biological diversity in a
tank smaller than about 40 gallons. IOW: A DSB in a small sump,
refugium, or bucket is pretty much a waste of time in terms of
nutrient processing.

Each article specifically makes the point that the mineral make-up of
the sand is not important so long as there is nothing toxic in the
mix.

It's likely that the sand in your tank is just fine so your next move
should be to buy, beg, borrow, or st...(never mind) a number of
'innoculants' for your DSB from friends' or LFS's tanks and/or
detrivore kits from various on-line merchants. Also, figure on re-
inoculating your DSB periodically (once or twice a year). BTW: The
live sand you bought mainly contains bacteria but it's unlikely to
have much else in the way of infauna.

HTH.

Sedimentarily yours,

Alex