Do you rinse your sand before using it?

[kmu]

Hi there, last time I set up a tank I rinse the 60lbs of sand with fresh tap water, and It was some hard work.

Now on my new set up which will use about 200lbs its gonna be a hard job.

Since Im gonna slowly add water to the tank with my RO/DI I know it will take for ever to fill, at least a couple of days, I see no reason here to rinse it or should I?

 

[jalloway502]

I personally would rinse it only because it will stir up when you turn the pumps on - and the less debris in there to begin with - means less you have to get out

 

[Korrine]

Yes I did. I had no rinse needed sand. However this is what it looked like while rinsing.

first put in bowl then added water.

after 5th rinse

after 10th rinse

I took all these pictures b/c I couldn't believe how NO RINSE sand could be THIS cloudy!! So YES rinse your sand b/c if you don't, any time your sand gets stirred in the future you'll probably get a cloudy haze that will take time to settle.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Definitely rinse it. I've always done this outside in a bucket with the hose. Final rinse with RO.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

I agree, it will be much less dusty when you add it to your aquarium if you rinse.

 

[Steven Pro]

I never rinse sand. It is much easier and far less messy to simply fill the aquarium slowly after placing the sand in it.

 

[epicenter]

I have always rinsed my sand. It will get rinsed in your bucket or your tank, you decide.

 

[kmu]

I never rinse sand. It is much easier and far less messy to simply fill the aquarium slowly after placing the sand in it.

Yes, its gonna be a pain in the... just to rinse it and since Im gonna fill it very slowly with the RO/DI I think the cloudiness would be minimum...

 

[gsago1979]

I have rinsed sand, and I have set up a new tank without rinsing sand at all...for the aggravation of rinsing it vs letting it rinse in the tank I have found it not worth the hassle to pre rinse...

So my tanks cloudy for a few days...when you consider how long the tank sits empty anyways during the cycling process I dont think its a big issue.

 

[Floowid]

I don't rinse new sand usually because its not worth the effort, and as gsago1979 said, you are going to have to cool your jets for a lot longer than the tank is going to be cloudy from the sand.

 

[Khoad]

I rinse my substrate always. The tank still turns cloudy. I find there a lots of bigger floating type bits of "stuff" that you get out too.
A couple powerheads with aquaclear quick filter attachments work wonders clearing it quickly.

http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&ndsp=20&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=3&q=aquaclear+quick+filter

 

[edsreef]

I don't rinse but I use a canister filter stuffed with filter floss to remove the fine dust. Works great for me!

 

[nygiants72]

Rinse as much as possible as if you were about to cook rice. You don't want that dust all over the place and if ever a powerhead falls, that dust will reappear and affect your watery friends.

 

[skraj011]

i don't rinse because it takes too long, wastes water, and isn't necessary. Add the water to the tank slowly and the cloudy won't be that bad and will clear up quickly.

 

[preef]

I didn't rinse mine. Tank was cloudy for a couple days but who cares. Never had issues with dust kicking up.

 

[Agu]

I don't rinse because I hate flushing product I paid for down the drain. Add some live rock/live sand to the mix and the cloudiness goes away quickly. Some people have speculated the bacteria from the live sand/rock coats the sand and takes it out of suspension.

I think it's just a magic cure .

 

[The_Chad]

I didn't rinse the sand in my 20g reef that i recently setup. What I did to minimize the cloud was put a small saucer or small bowl in the tank. Then fill the saucer/bowl until it gently overflows into the rest of the tank. My first setup, a 75g w/ 35g sump I didn't rinse the sand and did the same thing. No problems and no cloud, and as far as the "every time you disturb the sand you gat a cloud" problem, as soon as you vacuum a few times you will get most of the silt out of the sand.
To make this short, "I'm not to sure I would waste the effort" I may be wrong though.

 

[FranktheTankTx]

Rinse Rinse Rinse. I always rinse my sand... the pictures in this thread are proof.

By the way, did the OP say he's filling his tank with RO? How are you mixing the salt?

 

[jok3rqnk]

i would personally rince the sand because i had a tank before with sand that wasnt rinced, and i always had a problem, because when i had to work on my sand tons of dust would come up, and i always hated it.

 

[Sk8r]

The dust makes a nasty sticky soup once the bacteria get to it. Definitely wash it---wash it very thoroughly! Voice of experience, here!