old sand - use or toss?

[grlindsay]

I've recieved a 300 gallon tank from a family member that doesn't have room for it in his new location. He had a deep bed of about 6-8" of sand in it that I have sitting out in my garage in buckets while I have the tank replumbed. The sand has been sitting there drying out for about 3 months now. Would this still be good to use or would it be better for the tank to start fresh with some live sand?

Thanks.

 

[woowoodengy]

dont throw it away. just wash it very good and use it. for a 300 gal you would spend $400 + on new sand and your sand just need a good rinse (very good rinse) with RO water

BTW

WELCOME TO REEFCENTRAL

 

[Reefugee]

Ditto. Rinse real well and you should be able to reuse it.

 

[afernandez]

I am sorry but I say toss it..why risk it? IMO dSb holds alot stuff maybe some will come off some may not. Me presonally I would not use it. Again IMHO

 

[wab]

+1 for toss it. You can also buy bulk sand from a concrete supplier or a stone center, about 15bucks a ton.

 

[Juruense]

If it was high quality reef sand I would try to save it. If it is cheap silica sand I would toss it.

 

[pmcadams]

Rinse it thoroughly and reuse it. It wasn't but a few years ago people were putting sand in sealed buckets with dead... shrimp I think it was, and letting it rot in the name of creating live sand. Lots were doing it, and it was nasty and stinky, but it didn't hurt anyone's tank. Unless your family members tank suddenly died off from some mystery disease, why go buy sand when you already have buckets of the stuff. Clean it and reuse it. Unlike buying new sand, at least you know where it's been.

 

[heatdissipation]

Depending on the type of sand it is, I say reuse it. If it is playsand or some other silica based sand, then throw it out.

 

[sedor]

You don't need to wash it out with RO water, just a regular garden hose will work just fine. IMO the sand will be perfectly fine. Personally I would lose about half of it though and just add a couple inches to the bottom of the tank.

 

[drillsar]

I would toss it, why risk it?

 

[spleify]

You don't need to wash it out with RO water, just a regular garden hose will work just fine. IMO the sand will be perfectly fine. Personally I would lose about half of it though and just add a couple inches to the bottom of the tank.

+1, I agree 100%. I have re-used sand a number of times. I take the garden hose and push it down to the bottom of the bucket and repeat until the water is coming back out clear.

I would also recommend just adding an inch or two back to the tank.

 

[Still Wet]

I would toss it. You could rinse it but it is way to time consuming. I know of people that have rinsed sand and all they say is it took a long time to do it right and they would never do that again. Like others have said why risk it? There isn't a test you can do to see if the sand is clean enough.

 

[Daimyo68]

Clean and re-use. If you go buy new sand, your going to have to rinse it also. So either way you are rinsing sand.

If the sand had just been pulled from the tank, then I would say to leave it and go get new because of the threat of toxins. But the sand has been sitting for 3 months in open buckets (I'm assuming being that you said it's been drying).

Take the sand and fill a bucket a 1/4 of the way, and rinse it with a garden hose until the water runs clear. It's a tedious process, so plan on having some spare time.

If you decide against using the old sand, do not go and buy so called "live sand". Get some dry aragonite sand of your choice and then buy a few cups of live sand from the lfs from their system or from a local reefer, and dump it on top of your new sand in a pile. The bacteria from the lfs sand will migrate/spread to your new sand and then start to populate it.

 

[grlindsay]

Thanks all! I talked to the original owner and I guess it's was originally just dry aragonite sand. I guess the question comes down to which one I want to spend more of - $$$ or time. I'm definately looking at doing more of a shallow bed though between 1-2 inches. Since I'd rather spend the $$$ on a new skimmer I may just have to break down and wash out what I need.

And thanks for the suggestion about just using a hose. That will make it alot easier! Of course it snowed outside today so maybe I'll hook up the hose inside.

 

[kzickovich]

I just set up a new tank and all I did was take about two cups of sand unwashed and put it in a zipplock baggie then put it in with the rocks to keep it warm. Rinsed all the rest of the sand with a garden hose until clear. Then i just gave a quick rinse with ro water, but I have bad water. After I got the tank set back up I put the two cups of old unwashed sand back in. I had a very small algea bloom.

 

[pmcadams]

Thanks all! I talked to the original owner and I guess it's was originally just dry aragonite sand. I guess the question comes down to which one I want to spend more of - $$$ or time. I'm definately looking at doing more of a shallow bed though between 1-2 inches. Since I'd rather spend the $$$ on a new skimmer I may just have to break down and wash out what I need.

And thanks for the suggestion about just using a hose. That will make it alot easier! Of course it snowed outside today so maybe I'll hook up the hose inside.

I think you are making the right decision. First, whether you think silica sand is acceptable or not ( I do ), I think you would have a hard time finding someone that would prefer silica over aragonite if they were sitting in side by side bags. Also, argonite sand is difficult to find in large quantities at a reasonable cost.

As far as new sand goes... sand is not manufactured in a clean room. This stuff is dug out the ground, goes thru all kinds of machines, open train cars, dump trucks, hoppers, sits in huge mounds open to the elements and moved by equipment covered in grease, diesel, and oil. You think thoroughly rinsing and reusing argonite reef sand is risky ? IMO

 

[Fizz71]

IMO Aragonite sand is like gold. I had some old southdown I just couldn't bare to part with. I rinsed it in small portions in tap water then did a final rinse with RO. Time consuming, but the tank is up about a year now with no issues with the sand biologically. I have a silica RDSB with the top few inches of southdown from a live tank and all my display sand is the recycled southdown that was BONE DRY and a former DSB. 8ft x 2ft x 2in.+ of the stuff. Zero regrets. Well over $300 saved.

 

[five O]

Save yourself the money and re-use it. You would have to rinse the new sand anyways. I would ditch some of the old sand tho. That was a really deep sand bed.

 

[spleify]

Good luck, and

[welcome]

 

[poolkeeper1]

To use or Not to use that Is the Question, Four Score and twenty Oh wait that's another question! Depends on how much effort you want to put In cleaning the sand properly, If done right It's fine to use If not ??? You may regret It In the long run. On the other hand you may not, Or may, Not, May.... You get the Idea LOL
If you don't think this Is funny then don't laugh, But please chuckle.
Bill