how do you guys rinse your sand
- Thread starter mikeyj28
- Start date
crazy4salt
Topsy Turvy Child
I put it in a 5 gal bucket, rinse, swish, dump water....repeat repeat repeat.
I'm sure there must be an easier way, but this has always worked for me.
I'm sure there must be an easier way, but this has always worked for me.
seapug
Premium Member
put the dry sand in a bucket, tilt it at an angle and jam a garden hose in it and gently flush it out for about 15 minutes (or until the water is clear). You can pour off the extra water and let it sit for a day or two in a dry place if you want to dry it, but I've never had any issues putting it in the tank still wet with the tap water. You'll still get some cloudiness from it but it will be greatly reduced.
If you want to keep the live sand live, you'll just have to put it directly in the tank. Dropping the whole bag in and cutting it open right on the bottom can help reduce the dust storm, but there's really only so much you can do. Either way, any cloudiness from the sand usually settles out within a couple days.
If you want to keep the live sand live, you'll just have to put it directly in the tank. Dropping the whole bag in and cutting it open right on the bottom can help reduce the dust storm, but there's really only so much you can do. Either way, any cloudiness from the sand usually settles out within a couple days.
Allmost
New member
+1 ^ on live sand.
for the dry, wash it with tap water till water in not cludy anymore. then leave it in RO/DI water over night and test for po4. change the RO/DI water with new, leave over night and test again, and use when po4 reads zero or close to zero.
usually takes me 7-10 days.
good luck.
for the dry, wash it with tap water till water in not cludy anymore. then leave it in RO/DI water over night and test for po4. change the RO/DI water with new, leave over night and test again, and use when po4 reads zero or close to zero.
usually takes me 7-10 days.
good luck.
greech
New member
Would allowing the sand to dry out after rinsing with tap be of any benefit or is diluting in RO/DI the only/better way?
Thanks for the info. I didnt think i would do anything to the live sand at all.
As for the dry sand i dont think that i would want to use tap water on it because i do not want to add in any PO4 to it, so i will just rinse it with RO/DI water. Thanks a lot for the info everyone.
As for the dry sand i dont think that i would want to use tap water on it because i do not want to add in any PO4 to it, so i will just rinse it with RO/DI water. Thanks a lot for the info everyone.
Zucker26
New member
I drape a sheet of filter media over a bucket and clamp it on 3 sides. Dump each bag of sand into the middle of the filter sheet, run a stream of RO/DI water over it until the water starts coming through clear, then dump the sand into your aquarium. If you're really into conservation, you can let the bucket sit for an hour or so and then decant the clean RO/DI back into a jug and use it again.
Zucker26
New member
Wow, I knew you'd ask me this. Honestly, I have no clue! I went into my closet-o-junk and found an old sheet of filter media I bought a while back in an attempt to control microbubbles. But you could probably go to any fabric store and buy plain old felt, as long as it's thick enough to hold the weight of the sand and doesn't contain any dye. And you can really only do one bag of sand at a time, because you almost have to fill the bucket before it rinses fully.
I did this when I added sand to a barebottom setup, and dumped the sand into a full aquarium with the pumps running. Seriously, no sand storm at all. The water was crystal clear within 5 minutes.
Allmost
New member
for sure not the only way
and I have no Idea about drying it to be honest. I have learned this method from the Zeoheads
and well, its not hard to test if it works or not, all you need is RO/DI Water, dry sand and a Hanna po4 checker (low range po4)after washing sand, and leaving it in RO/DI TDS zero for 24 hours, I get some po4 readings, not much of course, about 0.1 PPM if rinsed well. after diluting it for a week or so, the po4 readings go down to 0.02 and that is when I use it. I just choose not to introduce the extra po4 into my system as its full of SPS
I could very well be wrong though
seapug
Premium Member
Wow, I've can't imagine spending 4 days rinsing, drying, testing and retesting a bucket of sand for PO4, but to each his own.
I've set up three tanks using dry sand flushed with the hose then put in the tank while still damp and never had any noticeable issues with it. Then again, I do run GFO on all my systems so Phosphate is always kept in check.
I've set up three tanks using dry sand flushed with the hose then put in the tank while still damp and never had any noticeable issues with it. Then again, I do run GFO on all my systems so Phosphate is always kept in check.
