Live Sand Secrets: A Dialog on Living Sand Filtration [Paperback]

Bob Goemans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

A Dialog on Living Sand Filtration discussing the use of live sand as an all-natural highly efficient form of biological filtration whether in the marine or freshwater aquarium.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finally an easy to understand book on natural marine and reef aquarium systems. Dr. Goemans is known for popularizing these systems in the hobby and now personally provides the "secrets" to success. -- Betsy Greenfield V.P. Marine Geologist

About the Author

Bob has been in the aquarium hobby for over fifty years. He was born and raised in Queens, New York. He started with freshwater aquariums as young child and had his first marine aquarium in 1956.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Marc Weiss Companies, Inc.; 2, Revised edition (September 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0966454928
• ISBN-13: 978-0966454925
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,123,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Oceans & Seas > Coral Reefs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All about the Plenum, August 3, 2000

By 

"lactrain" (New Bedford, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live Sand Secrets: A Dialog on Living Sand Filtration (Paperback)

Real good information on constructing a Jaubert Plenum System, everything from hardware to substrate size. It is also informative on the bilogical cycle and curing of live sand. I recomend this to anyone considering using a Plenum System.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise information that actually works in practice., January 17, 2005

By 

Alan "add1" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live Sand Secrets: A Dialog on Living Sand Filtration (Paperback)

When this "book" (it's more a pamphlet) arrived I was very disappointed. It was so short, just 32 pages, a half dozen or so of them are blank, and another sizable section is a reprint of an email sent to the author, I didn't believe it could possibly be worth the asking price. However, for a small investment of a couple of hours, I was able to read the book, and it's description of how to set up a plenum.

The information in the book includes a simple description of how to set up a tank, along with some very complicated chemistry that is very controversial and beyond almost everyone's (or maybe absolutely everyone's) ability to verify except through empirical testing.

So that's what I did. I set up a small 22 gallon tank, along with the plenum described by Bob Goeman, and waited. Almost immediately my protein skimmer broke - no reflection on Bob Goeman - and after about 6 months, my tank is still running trouble free (and protein skimmer free), and almost maintenance free, with nothing but daily feedings, and a monthly 10% water change. I've cleaned the aquarium glass just once. The fish are healthy and content, the inverts are doing fine. I intend to setup every future tank I ever have using this same method. I still feel that $9 for a pamphlet is excessive, but the information with in this pamphlet is priceless, and in the 25 or so aquarium books I've read I haven't seen this information anywhere else.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keys to Setting up a 21st Century Aquarium, August 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Live Sand Secrets: A Dialog on Living Sand Filtration (Paperback)

I was hooked on aquariums the minute I saw the ones in the jewelry department Barney's 7th Ave. store in Manhattan, with sapphire earrings and diamond bracelets draped underwater over branches of coral with butterfly and angel fish gliding thru. Years and one B.A. later, I bought a used saltwater tank. Who would have guessed you need a PhD in organic chemistry to understand the balance between pH and salinity and the Nitrogen Cycle. Well, if you want a tank like the one in Barneys, you do. And this is the book to begin with. Sure it looks like a tiny pamphlet, but it is practical, concentrated, wonderfully detailed - one of the very few pieces I've found written by someone who clearly knows what he's talking about. I don't have a chemistry background so when Dr. Goemans says things about "the buffering ions that keep the world's oceans in narrow pH range" I am out of my league. But I prefer that to the "Aquariums for Dummies" (do they have one of those yet?) advice that simplifies this hobby by leaving out anything technical. I've had my used aquarium for 2 years now. Fortunately it was set up by someone who wanted a state-of-the-art tank, one that grows into a stable system and needs minimal attention. And so, despite my initial ignorance, my tank was on autopilot while I learned what to do. It wasn't easy. Not a single book in my local library gives any really current information on this subject; that's a problem because scientists have learned so much in the past 10 years about marine fish and environments. I am starting my daughter's new saltwater tank this month, and we can do it right because we have this book in our home reference library: The best sand to use. How to use the first aquarium to seed the new one. Why a tank won't thrive without anaerobic and anoxic (low level oxygen) areas of the sandbed. All in plain English with some biochemistry thrown in. You may not be familiar with all the terms, but with this handy little booklet you won't make mistakes.