Tips on washing sand: not the easiest operation

[Sk8r]

Aragonite sand, a very good sand for a tank, is a headache to prepare if dry and full of dust. You can run water in it for an hour and still flush out water the color of chalk.
A Resign yourself to quite a water bill, and be sure, if you have to put this stuff down a plumbing system, that you flush it really, really, really well.

B My next advice is do it in spring warm weather or do it in the garage. But if you can't---DO flush a lot of water down the pipes to wash it down.

C My own method is to take about 5 cups full in a 5 gallon poly bucket (paint dept, Lowes, use the white ones) and flood it, stir it with your hand or a paint stick or paint mixer on a drill, pour off the white liquid, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat---x infinity. Drain, dump washed sand into a bucket as 'finished.' Start rinsing the next 5 cups. It is NOT faster, IME, to try to hose down the whole bag at once, because you can't get enough 'float' in 20 lbs of wet sand to get the powder out.

If anyone has invented any better methods out there, let's hear them! I hope to be amazed...but kind of doubt there's much better.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

that's pretty much what I did last time i rinsed sand. Next time I might try to make a special bucket that will fill from the bottom with a hose, so it would push water up through the sand and overflow (basicaly working like a reactor for sand). Then just stir the sand with your hands while the hose runs, continuously cleaning the sand and replacing water as you stir. continue untill adequitly clean. As long as you were able to get a good seal between the bucket and hose I would think it would work well. Of course this method will also use alot of water. just a more automated version than filling and dumping the bucket.

 

[morleyz]

It sort of depends on the grain size, but I like a mid sized sand like Caribsea special grade. I used household window screen stretched over a large rubbermaid container with a drain. Spread out your sand 1/2 thick or so, rinse with a sprayer, dump in a bucket, repeat with a new batch. If you get a relatively stiff rubbermaid, you can actually hold quite a bit of sand on the screen.

 

[Sk8r]

Good idea.

Added thought---you are of course washing it in chlorinated water. Pretty well no choice. Don't stress about it: just add Prime at the last rinse, so that will deal with most problems, and if you really have awful tapwater, once you do set up to cycle, run the tank with PolyFilter for several days. PF yanks metals and many really obnoxious things and is particularly good to use before you have much organic waste in your tank, because it yanks that also,

 

[tzylak]

I use a hose nozzle so the jet action does most of the stirring in a bucket that is filled 1/4 to 1/3 with sand. I periodically do some stirring by hand too, to get the sand moving all around. I let the bucket fill then stop the water, let it settle for several seconds then pour out (most of) the water.
Living in So Cal I do it outdoors on the grass. With every water drain I move over several feet. When the whole yard has been watered I am (or proclaim to be) done!!! -Usually within 30 minutes.
When gently lowered into the DT the water still turns somewhat opaque but clears up by morning.

 

[phenom5]

I always use an old pillow case.

Dump the sand in, and stick the hose in and let 'er rip...outside of a few odd stares from the neighbors, this works well. Take a little bit of effort "working" the hose around to get all of the sand, and if you have a lot of sand, it'll take several loads.

 

[billdogg]

After years of struggling with this problem, I have come up with the following.

I wash it in a 5g bucket that sits in my utility sink. To keep sand that will inevitably wash over the side from going down the drain, I made a 6" standpipe to fit in the drain. Doing that allows the (still good) sand to settle to the bottom while allowing the silt to go down the drain. When almost finished, I allow the water to drain from the sink taking care to not let any sand go down the drain. I then scoop the sand back into the bucket, give it a final rinse, and I'm good to go.

And a big +1 to flush the drain well when you are done to get the silt out!

 

[JMorris271]

Bag of Carib Sea Sand with the telling me I don't need to rinse it. As you can see plainly on the package.



So I rinsed it anyway and this is what I got

 

[MondoBongo]

i did mine in a 40 gallon brute trash can with a hose, outside in the driveway.

using the hose outside in the driveway was a brilliant idea, adding several bags of sand to the trash can was not.

work in smaller batches, one bag or less, and wash till clear. plan on spending a decent amount of time doing it, it took me WAY longer than i anticipated.

 

[kmbyrnes]

About to start on 200 lbs for my 350. I am going to try the screen and the pillow case.
Got to be better than the bucket method I used before