Rinsing new sand?

[Cindy S]

I've got a bag of CaribSea oolite sand. The instructions say to rinse the sand until cloudiness disappears. I tried using a strainer, but most of the sand fell through it. Any other ideas about what to use? Also, should I be rinsing it in DI, SW, or tap water?

Thanks for your help ... Cindy

 

[marc antony]

Hey Cindy, the last time I added sugar sized sand I did not wash it at all. What I did was take regular drinking glass and dipped it into the bag of sand and then lowered the glass into my tank and let all of the air bubbles escape. When all of the air was out I placed the bottom of the glass on the sand bed and then inverted it to let out the sand. This worked great for me. I had very little to no cloudiness and it probably took less time then if I had tried to wash the sand. If you are persistent on washing your sand I would recommend using RO water and not tap water.

 

[esmithiii]

I had a similar experience w/ SouthDown sand. The cloudiness abated after a day. I started to wash it, but the effort was too much!

E

 

[waterloomarc]

Hi Cindy,
If you are still plannning on rinsing your sand try using an old pillow case. This is what I used in the past.

That said, I wouldn't bother to rinse the sand. What you are effectively doing is rinsing away all the fine silty particles that help your sandbed function more effectively. When I changed from cc to sand a few weeks ago what I did was pour the sand in the tank and then put a garbage bag over top of the sand and pump the water back in on top of the bag. As the tank fills up the bag(s) rise with the water and when it is fulll just pull out the bag(s). It works quite well, I had virtually no cloudiness. What there was was cleared up in a couple of hours. Of course I'm assuming your tank is empty. If it is full try pouring the sand down a piece of PVC pipe, 3" or 4" diameter.

-Marc

 

[GMH320]

Put about half the sand in a bucket, fill it with water (tap water ok)and then just swirl it around with your hand. Let it settle for a minute or two then slowly dump off the water. Any dried seaweed or other junk gets washed out. You can repeat this several times, but you will never be able to get the water completly clear. After it settles in the tank for a day or so it will clear up.
Greg

 

[Reefer2b]

I did exactly what greg describes. Rinsed all the sand once, but i did it in 10-15# batches. Tank was still cloudy after I filled it but it cleared within a couple hours and I think it helped a lot.

 

[Enkidu]

when i rinsed my silica sand I put just about the whole 100lb bag into a 20 gal tank and filled it with tap water. I started by doing the same as what Greg did but I found it was alot easier to just leave the hose on and let the water overflow. This only works if your tank is high enough for the sand to settle some before it reaches the top and goes overboard.