Washing sand with tap?

[iflipsidei]

Is it ok to wash sand with tap or should i use DI? or should I use salt water???

 

[SaltyDr]

What kind of sand are we talking about? If it's live sand, then a rinse with RO/DI saltwater. If it's dry sand then I'd go with some RO/DI although using tap water wouldn't be a big deal - could always do a final rinse with RO/DI.

 

[Entropy]

Also how much sand are we talking about? Washing 200 pounds of sand is not really practical with anything but the garden hose. As long as you rinse it well at the end with RO I think you will be fine.

 

[iflipsidei]

its 140lbs of Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand made by CaribSea.

Ok so i can use a garden hose, then get the water out and flood the trashcan with ro-di, would that work.

 

[J. Montgomery]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9562461#post9562461 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by iflipsidei
its 140lbs of Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand made by CaribSea.

Ok so i can use a garden hose, then get the water out and flood the trashcan with ro-di, would that work.

Yes that should be fine. It takes an insane amount of water to clean sand to the point that the water doesn't look milky anymore. I wouldn't even want to think of how much RO/DI water that would be.

 

[IMAGINEER]

I just rinsed mine with tap and a 30gal drum . I rinsed each 40# bag 8 times . I actually final rinsed with my salt water from the tank . The sand will displace water anyway.

 

[Cuby2k]

Yeah I cleaned mine with water out of the tap, it's better to use RODI like said above but it's not realistic. That was one year ago that I washed 180 lbs with the hose and everything is growing great. BTW I don't care if I ever have to do that again.

I added a little bit of live sand AFTER I washed the other stuff and I have grown some pretty big bristle worms.

 

[iflipsidei]

can the sand sit in the the ro/di water for 2 days and still be fine?

 

[michaeldaly]

Just use normal tap water, the amount of impurities than can be introduced into your tank from the tap water washed sand is probably unmeasurable.

 

[iflipsidei]

So can i wash the sand today and then drain the trash can and then let it fill with RO/DI overnight and then put the sand in the tank monday or tuesday.

 

[alexb518]

i agree that you can use tap water for the initial rinse, but i disagree with using a garden hose. that will introduce a bunch of other chemicals. if it's a must, i'd let the hose run for 10-15 minutes before using it.

 

[iflipsidei]

its a brand new hose, never used

 

[WaterKeeper]

Tap is fine but consider skipping the wash step. I know it means cloudy water but the fines actually help diversify the bed and provide a wider habitat for more critters.

 

[iflipsidei]

Hmm that is a very interesting thing to consider

 

[WaterKeeper]

It is always a problem at first but soon bacteria form films on the sand and things settle down.

 

[IMAGINEER]

Caribsea , says this is optimal !! Just add , but if prefer you may rinse it

 

[KAKLANGLEY]

If its a new setup--pour it right on in it will clear in a day or two and as fish stir it down the road your filter will catch a little at the time. The sand at the Great Barrier Reef isnt all the same size.