Need some opinions on reusing LS

Islander84

Islander84

Reefer
I have a 40 gal tub with about 120lbs of LS Aragonite fiji pink. It has been sitting in the garage in the cold with salt water and some LR in the tub as well. The other day i started removing the rock and noticed an awful smell kinda like sulfur so i soaked the rock in fresh ro/di water to rinse and i dumped out all the water from sand and rinsed it pretty good by sticking water hose through sand and stiring it up then dumping water but it still has a very light smell. If i continue to rinse it will it be safe to reuse or should i just toss it ? Thanks- Gary
 
You could reuse it if you cleaned it enough to get all the dead bacteria out of it. But then it wouldn't be live sand. Prob easier to go buy more.
 
More so It's the amount of Phosphate absorbed by the sand during the decaying process that went on while sitting dead in the container. If it hadn't sat so long like that i would say reuse it but why start with trouble that can be avoided with new sand, And it not need be live sand all you need is a cupful of live sand to start the process of it becoming live very quickly.
Bill
 
Don't toss it. I've re-used sand from something just like you described. The key is rinsing it, rinsing it and rinsing it some more. Then you must realize that when you add it to your tank you're going to have to ley it cycle just like you got in some raw, uncured live rock.

While it's "curing" you'll need to stir the sand bed a bit and when levels are safe add some sand sifting critters. You're looking at a 4-6 week process so if it's worth the time to you go for it, but if you rush it and don't let it cycle all the way you're going to have a multitude of problems with that tank.

Fidel A.K.A. Fcamdog
 
The root of the problem with the sand is that the argonite has naturally absorbed toxins produced by decay. It will leach out all the toxins when it hits good water.
Rinse it and use it to sand the flower bed. Lol
 
Some sand and esp LR can and does leach phos over time. It depends on how much of an issue this money represents to you. How deep your sand bed would be etc. I would toss or only use as the bottom .5-1" of a tank and put new sand on the top of it generously. Other factors would be how deep the sand bed might be. Also depends on the critters that will be in your sand. IE diamond goby etc that might kick up your sand moving it around more dramatically might make me more inclined to ditch this sand. I would use RODI to wash it a bunch of times and not tap water. also for me the larger the tank and more spent the less likely I would be to use it. This is my 2 cents. but i would listen to the guy with 4000+ posts and not 400. good luck.
 
GT_Jacket said:
Even brand new sand should be soaked in RO/DI, changed every few days, until no PO4 is detectable.
Click to expand...

This may be a stupid "newbee" observation, but wouldn't that sort-of defeat the purpose of buying live sand? Or are you saying to just wash regular non-live sand?
 
True, probably would not want to do that method with live sand. I personally don't use live sand. I'd rather properly prep dead and seed with a bottled bacteria source.

This is a brand one of the zeo mods put me onto and I really like it. It was super clean during the rinse. I went with the "Reef Flakes" size. In general, they recommend a SSB (1" max) with a larger grain size.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supply/TEsand.html

Brett
 
Don't use it in a tank, it's saturated with phosphate.

You can rinse it very well and save it to make frag plugs.
 
Ahhh... frag plugs. That's an interesting idea.

Got any more info on doing that, Chris? Whats the method?

Brandon
 
Thanks everyone for your opinions. I think i am going to just buy new sand. If anyone is making frag plugs try using quickwall instead of portland and you wont have to wait to ph cure it, the quickwall is formulated to be used in potable water holding tanks and other water holding structures made of concrete. I made an entire rock wall for my tank and i tryed a small piece first to see what would happen and it soaked for couple days with no ph swing at all salt and freshwater. testing ph before and after rock being placed in water. The only thing i didnt like about the quickwall is that it has fiberglass strands in it for support, which can easily be strained through a screen or something to remove it. Oh and the quickwall is white instead of gray! You can purchase it at the home depot its made by quickrete lowes doesnt carry it.
 
NeveSSL said:
Ahhh... frag plugs. That's an interesting idea.

Got any more info on doing that, Chris? Whats the method?

Brandon
Click to expand...

Just mix it up with Portland (or white portland like I have) and place in a mold you make to whatever form you desire. Sounds like the quickwall will work as well. I use a 1/4 slice of PVC (use the PVC size you want the plug/disk to be) on a board and just press the mixture in with a trowel. Lift the form off, dip in water and make another. Takes about an hour to make a couple hundred. I've gotten lazy and usually order them now though:)
 
I took bill's old sand and washed the tar out of it when I setup my 180. while I have had a few issues, I can point them back to unrelated causes.
 
Old Sand

Old Sand

Pickupman66 said:
I took bill's old sand and washed the tar out of it when I setup my 180. while I have had a few issues, I can point them back to unrelated causes.
Click to expand...

The sand from that tank was vacuumed every water change so it really never got that dirty like some tanks. The Smell was from all the dead critters that tank had lots of Pods Worms and the like.
Bill
 
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