Can i reuse y live sand

I am moving and i have a tank that has been running for about 7 months with live sand i was wondering if i can reuse it in a new tank im setting up

 

Steven896s:

I have done so but cleaned it in a pillow case flushed with fresh water before reintroducing it into my tank setup.

E

 

you can reuse about a cup or two full and about 20-40% of the water from your tank to get around having to cycle not that it will work for sure but it has always worked for me. reusing sand unless its cleaned and then dried a few times i wouldnt use it cause nitrates and kind of stuff is trapped in there.

 

I reused all of my live sand with no problems at all. I had a 16 gallon bow front with 20 pounds of live sand and I set up a 40 gallon breeder. I used about 25 pounds of play sand and added all of my live sand on top of it.

 

how long did you have your sand?

 

I had my live sand for a good 6 or 7 months.

 

Thanks im still undesided though lol i was thinking of maybe just useing half of it and buying some new stuff

 

Sand will accumulate organics and detritus, so some people will tell you to wash it (with tank water, not fresh water!). This is fine and can be helpful. Older sand can bind nutrients such as phosphate as well as metals, which can not be rinsed off, as they are physically incorporated in the crystalline structure of the sand itself. Sand tends to dissolve a bit over time, so, as this occurs, these nutrients will be released back. At what point it's worth dumping it and replacing it is a tough question, but generally IME, about 2 years is good. However, if there is lots of algae growing on it or something, sooner may be preferable, as that may indicate it is leaching phosphate or "trace elements" (metals). I tend to doubt it would be bad already after 7 months though, so, I wouldn't hesitate to reuse it, unless there is tons of algae on it, that just won't go away...

 

Yea there is no algae on it