Moving sand to new tank, rinse/dry or do nothing at all?

Long story short - my tank cracked and need to move everything to a new tank that is coming in 2 weeks. I moved all my sand to a bucket, its been under flow and heating this whole time.

By already moving the sand once, I'm sure i kicked up all the nasties that everyone talks about (even though it was not a DSB). Will all the 'nasties' cycle itself out while in the bucket, or do I need to wash and dry the sand? Can I just rinse it and leave it in clean water?

I will not be able to leave the sand out in the sun in my tiny apartment, but the best thing i can do is to leave it in the bucket, drain the bucket, and run a dehumidifier beside it for the next while.

Am I correct to assume that when i put the sand back into my new tank, the sand should be DEAD, and shouldn't cause any spike or cycle?

 

I would use a process similar to the LR nuke. I would swish the sand around in a bucket with 50/50 bleach for a while then rinse rinse rinse. Finally I would bake the sand in the oven, yes the oven. I did this wit my old sand and it turned out harmless and really white may i add!

 

hahaha... another downside to living in tiny hk apartments - most people don't have ovens. i have a toaster oven, but its tiny.

do you think just fully drying is sufficient in killing everything? i'd much rather not use the bleach if it isn't absolutely necessary. seems i'd be paranoid about whether i successfully rinsed the bleach out or not.

 

if the sand was fine before, chances are drying it out in the sun and then rinsing then repeating will work for you. I did the extreme process because i had a bad chemical that crashed my tank. If this is referring to the tank that crack im so sorry man thats awful.

 

If you only fully dry it you will surely run into a cycle problem. Everything that was once live in the sand will be dead and will rott in the tank causing ammonia. If nuking the sand isn't an option I would keep it live and give a it a thorough rinsing in salt water to try and rid it of the detritus.

 

the bleach will evaporate completely but only if you spread the sand out and let it dry out

 

This is an easy one, if you have provided heat and flow, try adding a few cheap inverts and let them go to work! If they die you know there is a problem, but I would feel completly comfortable with a good saltwater bath to wash away the impurities! I have done this twice now with no problems.

 

Here's an article on rinsing sand that may help.
Melevsreef.com - Rinsing Sand