foul sand

[stykthyn]

I have about 40 lbs of sand that was in my tank about a year ago. Anyway, I have moved and changed substrates, but I saved the old sand in a bucket. This week I started to set up a new tank and I put the old sand in. I let it sit for a few days and the water got nasty looking like I thought it would, but it didnt smell bad. I go to drain the water and replace it with new water, but when I stirred up the sandbed I got hit with this god-awful stench. It smells like something has died in there. Is there anyway I can use this again or do I just need to throw it out?

 

[ALTI]

I would throw it out. Risking polluting the tank is not worth the couple of bucks it costs to replace the sandbed.

 

[DJ88©]

[moved]

 

[Reef'in Colorado]

I would pull the sand out and rinse it VERY well multiple times in a 5 gal. bucket. That stuff is too expensive to just toss out!

 

[OnTheReef]

Rinse it with a hose in a bucket as best you can, then spread it out thin on a tarp and let it bake in the sun. Good as new.

 

[OnTheReef]

I should add that I recycled some sand that actually had black elemental sulphur on it this way, durn near killed me when I was cleaning the tank it was in. :sad2: