Ways to Clean new sand/fine aragonite

[S Helinski]

Hi Everyone,

I kinda feel dumb posting this, but has anyone figured out a great way to wash new sand/fine aragonite?

I washed the stuff, and currently have it in my new 34g Solana with tap water. I've been stirring it up and draining and refilling the tank almost every day for the past week or so... I have about 45 pounds of it in a 20x20 area!

Any great ideas on how to get rid of that milky-sand water? Or should I just keep doing total water changes with tap water?

Steve

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Do you have a way to recirculate the water through a filter sock? I've never been all that careful about washing sand. I usually just give it a quick rinse or two. The "dust" eventually settles in the display.

 

[Willistein]

I've never figured out a great way - always put it in a 5 gallon bucket and just let water run through it while stirring.

 

[frofan]

I've never figured out a great way - always put it in a 5 gallon bucket and just let water run through it while stirring.

I've done it the same way

 

[Capt_Cully]

I take it and put it in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I blast it with a hose and sort of create a spill over, such that the dusty water flows out of the bucket while the sand stays in. Even after 10 minutes, the water never becomes clear. But, it significantly reduces the dust and settling time.

I also prefer adding wet sand to a filled tank. Scoop it up with a cup. Lower the cup into the tank slowly allowing the cup to fill slowly as well. Then, lower it to the desired position and pour the sand down slowly. It's easier to control where it goes, and IMO/IME it reduces dust and settling time.

It's a trick I read about in Mike Paletta's "The New Marine Aquarium". He also makes the point to put rocks on the tanks bottom, then add sand. This creates a more stable aquascape, less succeptible to collapse from burrowing and sand sifting critters.

 

[Tonynlo]

+1 on overflowing the container with running water. This is the fastest way I have found to do it.

 

[block head]

old pillow case works alright. i cut the corner then use a funnel /pvc pipe to " pour "the sand around the rocks. still sucks, just not as bad

 

[acdraindrps]

Gravel vac it.

 

[RyanEG]

The pillow case works pretty good.

 

[becon776]

HUGE fan of livesand for this exact reason. More$ but worth it. Anyone remember the south down days? Laying a garbage bag down lol.

 

[chuckawd]

When I set up my 20 gallon I rinsed the sand once actually in the bag then scooped it up and plopped in in the aquarium, filled with fresh saltwater and the filter picked up the rest over night. Any remaining dust eventually settled. Maybe fill your tank up with the sand in it and let it run for a bit and see what happens?

 

[tmz]

Like Cully I blast with a hose while it's in a bucket. I use a plastic coffee can with the lid on to bring it to the bottom and then openi\it and deposit the sand. It helps but still get some dust.