What's the best way to rinse sand

[cap11885]

I'm finally upgrading to a 250g! but that means i now have both dry and live sand from my old tank to rinse. In the past i have used a garden hose and bucket to get dry sand rinsed but i feel there has to be a better way that won't contaminate the sand as much. As for the live sand all i can think is. salt water. stir. and run water through filter sock. repeat.

Any one have better methods?

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

If the sand is old you are better off dumping it rather than transferring all the bad stuff.
Harder to rinse & you will kill all the bacteria anyway.

 

[mcgyvr]

Bucket and plunge the hose in it is all I do..
If you have room a tarp to spread it out may work better..just flood it and let the crap float out

 

[cap11885]

Ok. Ill rinse my new and dump most of my old. Ill just keep a few cups

 

[MondoBongo]

i just rinsed about 200 odd pounds of sand for my new build.

i used tap water for the bulk of the rinsing, but did a final rinse of each batch with RODI. i worked in very small batches. about 10 - 20 lbs at a time. the large the batch, the harder it is to agitate all the sand and get it clean. i used mostly hose pressure, as i was washing in a small bucket.

it's also best to do it outside, but if you have to do it inside (i did because it's winter here), then be prepared to filter the run off water before it goes down any of your drains. the amount of silt produced is incredible, and coule cause plumbing problems.

finally, not all sand is created equal. the CaribSea special grade reef sand i had was by far the cleanest, while the SeaChem sand was filthy nasty.

 

[OrionN]

Bucket and plunge the hose in it is all I do..
If you have room a tarp to spread it out may work better..just flood it and let the crap float out

This is what I do. Rinse several time until the water is clear. I rinse about 1.5 gal of sand in a 5 gal bucket at a time. A lot of hard work for the sand, especially for my 320 gal tank.

 

[jbardwel]

rinsing sand

rinsing sand

For new dry sand I put a 1" or so layer on an old window screen and rinse with a garden hose. The thin layer makes is rinse so much more efficiently than in a bucket. For old sand I just put it in the tank first without rinsing, I just pour off the extra water on top of the transfer buckets. you actually will kill many of the good bacteria in old sand by rinsing with fresh water as the bacteria are adapted to salt water. if the tank was in good shape when you took it down the stuff in the sand is generally good for the tank not bad and any fine stuff in old sand will tend to settle out much faster than new sand dust, which can take a long time. I just moved a 300 and 150 gal tank with deep sand beds that way and the move went really well

 

[billdogg]

Here's how I've been doing it for years:

How to Clean Dry Sand
(without clogging the plumbing)

The method I use is as follows. It is very simple, wastes very little sand, and won’t clog the plumbing.
I clean sand in the utility sink, but any sink large enough to hold a 5g bucket will work. Cut a 6” piece of PVC to fit in the drain to act as a standpipe. You may have to sand a taper into the end of the PVC to get it to fit snugly. Put a 5g bucket in the sink, with standpipe in place. Pour about #10 of sand into the bucket and start filling it up with tap water. The faster, the better. While filling, stir the sand with another piece of PVC (1 ½ “ works well for me). Allow the bucket to overflow into the sink, carrying all the silt and whatnot into the sink, where the heavier particles (sand) will settle out before the wastewater, laden with silt, tops the standpipe and goes down the drain. Continue running the water until the bucket runs clear. . Now drain the bucket of as much water as you can, empty the (now) clean sand into another container (or your tank), and repeat the process until all your sand has been thoroughly washed. When you have finished, there will be several inches of sand in the bottom of the sink. Scoop it up into the bucket, give it another good rinse and you will be just about done. The final thing I do is plug the drain, allow the sink to fill as far as it can, then let it all drain away to give the silt still remaining in the pipes a good chance to be flushed away.

 

[wilsonreefs]

I like the screen method above. I'm starting to rebuild my 240 after about 3 years of sitting idle.

 

[WVfishguy]

I always used billdogg's method for rinsing freshwater gravel. For saltwater sand, I scoop it out with a large aquarium net, and let the old tank water rinse it out. If I have to buy a new net, so what?

I've done this more times than I can remember. I'm not about to waste good sand because I'm too lazy to rinse it, and any cloudiness will clear up, or you can use a diatom filter.

 

[cap11885]

Thanks everyone