Re-using sand

sharkman121

New member
hey guys, im in the process of going from my 75 gal to my 130 gal. Is it imperative for one to use ro-di water to wash the sand when transferring it to the new tank, or would tap water suffice? reason im asking is im a bit short on rodi water right now.

ive also heard that i should not re use the old sand but im getting conflicting reports.
 
I'm in a similar boat. We are drilling a tank and I rinsed the sand in tap water. I plan to dry out the sand and reintroduce without an RODI wash. I'm going to add a few drops of water conditioner though. We'll still need to cycle the tank so I think it will be fine.
 
I am going to admit, I am a bit lazy. Every time I have rinsed my new sand, I just did it in the bathtub, and never used RO/DI for the final rinse (( though I do think it is a good idea )), and never had any issues.
 
southdown?

southdown?

I am going to admit, I am a bit lazy. Every time I have rinsed my new sand, I just did it in the bathtub, and never used RO/DI for the final rinse (( though I do think it is a good idea )), and never had any issues.

Not to highjack this thread, but....

Will southdown sand with it's fine grain structure rinse well using this method? I'm curious if the smaller sand (southdown) will stir up more than the granular sand and pour out of the bucket with the water during rinsing.
 
We just did a tank move and were told not to rinse the sand at all because of the good bacteria and of course the cycle you would trigger. Our tanks have been back up and running for a month and the tank that we upgraded (so we added some new sand in) ran through a mini cycle but other than that both tanks are doing great.
 
Not to highjack this thread, but....

Will southdown sand with it's fine grain structure rinse well using this method? I'm curious if the smaller sand (southdown) will stir up more than the granular sand and pour out of the bucket with the water during rinsing.

I have never used southdown, so take this for what its worth.

I would think if you used a 5 gallon bucket (( instead of a 2 gallon one )) and didn't put in too much sand you would be fine.

This is how I do mine,

sand2.jpg
 
We just did a tank move and were told not to rinse the sand at all because of the good bacteria and of course the cycle you would trigger. Our tanks have been back up and running for a month and the tank that we upgraded (so we added some new sand in) ran through a mini cycle but other than that both tanks are doing great.

Depends on how deep the sand is and how old it is. If there are zones of depleted oxygen then the bacteria will die in those zones when disturbed and exposed to oxygen. That contaminates the sand. Generally speaking, if its a deeper or older sandbed it is best to rinse before you reuse. You can scoop an inch or so off the top and use that for re-seeding the sandbed after the transfer but i wouldnt use anything any deeper.
 
Smell the sand. Take a deep scoop from several places in the tank and smell it. If it smells like the beach, it's ok to re-use it - do NOT rinse it. If it smells like rotten eggs, toss it and start over with new sand, but as another poster has said, use an inch or so from the top to re-seed the new sand.
 
Depends on how deep the sand is and how old it is. If there are zones of depleted oxygen then the bacteria will die in those zones when disturbed and exposed to oxygen. That contaminates the sand. Generally speaking, if its a deeper or older sandbed it is best to rinse before you reuse. You can scoop an inch or so off the top and use that for re-seeding the sandbed after the transfer but i wouldnt use anything any deeper.

I remember being told if we decided to go with all new sand that we should seed it just as you say, by taking scoops of the old sand and placing it on top of the new bed. However, if we decided to use the old sand we would need to remove it in layers and place each layer in a seperate container and then put it back into the tank just as it had come out. Just like everything there is several different ways of doing it. All I know is in the end it all worked out, thank god. :)
 
I have a lot of sand from my old tank, which had high nitrates and phosphates. I put it in a big tub and rinsed it with hose water until it ran clear. Now I am making rodi to do a final rinse. The sand is loaded with phosphates; would making salt water, seeding the sand with some lr from my display tank, and cooking it get rid of the phosphates? I would stir the sandbed up each time I do a water change during the cook.
 
you know, you will always have conflicting sides just like shallow or DSB. If you think about it, rinsing and reusing sand is just like having a shallow sand bed or if you were having to clean it all the time. rinsing and reusing is possibly what the companies do then they just put the sand in a bag add some salt water and throw in bacteria. Pretty good gig if you ask me and we all think that is the only way to go. Head over to the beach, grab some sand, wash and rinse it real good. Throw in some bacteria when adding to the tank and you have the same stuff as in the store
 
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