Year old sand, ok to use?

[sandman12]

When I bought my, new to me, tank it came with a 5g bucket of sand that has been sitting in the garage for a year covered with 1" of water. Is this still ok to use or should I throw it out?

Thanks!

 

[Rawrsean]

Definitely throw it out. It's likely toxic. It's always best to use fresh sand. When sand sits out, more things than you can count die off, and that'll lead to many problems in the future, both near and far.

 

[rogergolf66]

I would just rinse it really good with a hose. Put the hose in the bucket let the water run out till the water is clean running out of the bucket. Then lay the sand out and let it dry really well.

Roger

 

[Coelli]

My sand was dry, but probably not rinsed before it was stored for about 18 months. I rinsed the hell out of it with hose water, let it sit for a day, rinsed it again, then again with RO/DI and finally into the tank. I had elevated phosphate at first that could have been from the sand or the fresh live rock (.14) but after 3 weeks with GFO and some chaeto it's gone down considerably. Is it better to buy fresh sand? Yes, but old sand isn't a death sentence for the tank.

 

[Leoprime]

I had same situation, i gardenhosed bucket till water was clear, then soaked in water and vinegar for 24 hours. Then used rodi with water conditioner. Cycled tank. Now it houses macro algea and snails all do well, no phosphate readings. But could be macros using it up and not showing on test.