What should I do with the old sand bed?

[CyanoMagnet]

Is it ok to mix it in with a new deep sand bed? I would hate to be responsible for the deaths of millions of tiny organisms. Or would it be too toxic once stirred up?

 

[mmgm]

I would throw it away.... Too toxic to mess with....

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

Use it in the garden.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I wouldnt trash it... at most rinse it out a few gallons at a time in the tub or with a hose.

 

[AJT]

Don't use it if it is stirred up. Everything bad settles in the sand bed. You can use a little as seed from the top layer, but if it is mixed together I would not use more than a cup or two for seeding.

my .02

 

[piranhaking]

i personally would rinse it all out and then let it dry out, then rinse it again and it should be as good as new.

 

[sjfishguy]

throw it out, why waste your time with all that slop.

 

[mmgm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6827157#post6827157 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by piranhaking
i personally would rinse it all out and then let it dry out, then rinse it again and it should be as good as new.

Have you ever tried this in the past? Were you successful with this approach? I'm interested in hearing about your experiences with this.......

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6829171#post6829171 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mmgm
Have you ever tried this in the past? Were you successful with this approach? I'm interested in hearing about your experiences with this.......

I've done this (I have a bucket full of sand in may basement from when I took it out of my refugium).

All you guys who say to throw it away, is it just because you dont feel like rinsing it out? I dont know about you but the sand I bought was pretty expensive at my LFS.

 

[brian3]

I threw mine out. Not worth the risk of all that could be in the pores that won't come out when rinsed like nitrates or phosphates. Don't know that for sure but to me after smelling the toxic soup their was only one place that was going and it was not back in the tank.

 

[gobygoby]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6827157#post6827157 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by piranhaking
i personally would rinse it all out and then let it dry out, then rinse it again and it should be as good as new.

I concur.

I have done this many times. gone through 3 tank moves and only lost a total of 2 corals.

I have just about anything from softies, LPS, SPS, clams, fish and inverts.

rinsing the sand bed wont hurt anything

Here is how I do it....

take all the livestock and rock out of the tank and drain the water down about half way. and while taking out the rock, I shake it so all detritus comes off the rock.

Then i stirr the crap (literally ) out of the sand. then I siphon out the water....then I repeat...then repeat....until afer you stir the sand bed the water becomes clear pretty quickly and there is no debris that settles on top of the sand bed. depending on how dirty the water is, sometimes I have to make up some SW to add back in so there is enough to siphon out.

done this many times with zero ill effects.

hth
Goby

 

[reverendmaynard]

Soak it in vinegar water. Should eat away the outside layers and release and phoshpates or nitrates that are adsorbed. Empty as much of the vinegar water as possible, rinse in sw.

I wouldn't call possibly saving hundreds of dollars on new sand just by spending a few hours rinsing the old to be a waste of time, myself. Others may have other priorities.

 

[jarhed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6838034#post6838034 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reverendmaynard
Soak it in vinegar water. Should eat away the outside layers and release and phoshpates or nitrates that are adsorbed. Empty as much of the vinegar water as possible, rinse in sw.

I wouldn't call possibly saving hundreds of dollars on new sand just by spending a few hours rinsing the old to be a waste of time, myself. Others may have other priorities.

WORD!!

Watch out for that vinegar though. You may end up fizzing away all of your sand.

 

[reverendmaynard]

Yeah, you'll lose some, but not as much as if you throw it in the trash!

Should alleviate the nutrient sink problem though.

 

[jarhed]

Yeah, you'll lose some, but not as much as if you throw it in the trash!

Good point!!

Personally, all I did with my old sand from my 40 and some donated SouthDown was to rinse it thoroughly in my 18gal Rubbermaid several times, drain it, then dried it in the sun over about five days. Just went out and turned it over each day so it dried completely. Then I sifted the rock chunks and other nonsense out of it. Ended up with a very consistent grain size and very clean ready to use sand. I use it to this day to add to the sandbed to makeup for my Goby's antics :mad2:.

Trust me, NOTHING lived through that. I hate the idea of wasting good expensive sand.