Cleaning Sand

[richardhmc]

I'm going to transfer my tank setup from my old 50 to my new 50. My sand is a crushed shell type of sand and its dirty. Is there any way to clean it? I know it will kill the bacteria in there but its pretty ugly looking. Should I just dump it into a bucket and hose it with water?

Thanks.

 

[chinatown]

i would just toss the sand all together. could cause a big cycle if u move it. but if your system was up for less than a month, then you can probably move it. myself, i used half my old sand before because it was still fairly new.

 

[DrHarryLopez]

I agree, I had over 200lbs of sand from my old 90g and had to dump it. Seemed like a waste of money, but it save me time and headaches.

Money well spent, because time is at a premium.

 

[Imbarrie]

I have washed sand and crushed coral. It worked well for me everytime. But I rinsed it very well.


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[bbreef240]

same here ...just put it in a bucket and stir it up and dump the dirty water...keep doing that until the water is clean...its a little bit of work but time is free...

 

[richardhmc]

so why do you guys dump it?

 

[Imbarrie]

I'm wondering the same thing.

The amount you rinse it is comparable to rinsing a new bag of crushed coral.


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[albano]

If you're going to re-use your sand...you need to rinse it with SALT water

 

[Imbarrie]

You could rinse with fresh then finish with salt. After I rinse mine I put it in a large bucket with a powerhead for a couple days and test the water parameters before I add to a tank.

 

[albano]

You could rinse with fresh then finish with salt .

That would kill all bacteria, for sure!

 

[richardhmc]

What i'm I trying to avoid here?

 

[Imbarrie]

left over detritus that had built up mostly, if the sand was full of other stuff you could have some rot.

 

[richardhmc]

true, if i do disturb the sand bed, then dust/dirt/crap does come out

 

[richardhmc]

So I'm going to have to use A LOT of saltwater to clean my sand right? Jeez.. I think new sand is a better idea then.. And I'll use a portion of this to seed my new sand.
We shall see

 

[roc5288]

that would kill all bacteria, for sure!

+ 1

 

[Imbarrie]

Use a lot of freshwater to clean the sand. Then use a little bit of used saltwater to displace the fresh.


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[DrHarryLopez]

Ya see, sounds like a lot of work

 

[Imbarrie]

I don't know any dry sand that doesn't need rinsing.


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[bbreef240]

if your breaking a tank down use the water from the tank...or do a water change and use that water...both are salted and will work....of corse it is always easier to spend money and by new stuff...all depends what you want to do....

 

[richardhmc]

yeah it costs to be lazy haha