would you use, "used" sand?

Chances are, your first couple of rinses will look NASTY, but all of that will clean up pretty quickly. Then you're into just getting the rinse water to run clear.

 

Alright, so I've been spending all day basically cleaning out the sand. Phewwwss there were about 7 buckets. I ran running water until it's basically clear. Now it's back in the bucket. It's basically somewhat wet.

My question is should I dry the sand out in the sun? or the moisture/wet sand should be fine to be put in the tank?

Thanks

 

I wouldn't use it at all. Sand, regardless of whether it has been rinsed or not can/will absorb phosphates and you can't rinse that out with a water hose. Also, if you are rinsing with tap water, you are wasting your time due to the phosphates in tap water. If the sand had been "live" I would have said use a bit of it to seed your new sand but since it's dry, you are taking a risk. This is a risk I wouldn't take, but that's just me. As "Oldfishkeeper" what happens when your sand fills with phosphate. You get yourself a nitrate factory.

 

Thank you for the comment and opinion Daniel. This is very interesting. I didn't that sand can actually absorb phosphates. Are you sure about that? I will do more research on this. And yes, I rinse it with tap water, that's why I thought I should dry it out.

 

I am positive sand can absorb and will wick phosphates once full. Have you ever heard of a term called "old tank syndrome". That is exactly what happens in old tank syndrome. LR and Sand fill with phosphates until they just can't hold any more. At that point, they start to wick in the form of algae and nitrates.

 

Thank you again Daniel. But isn't that what the maintenance and equipment are for? We know that at some point, phosphate will exist. That's what skimmer, reactors, water changes ....are for?

 

*The big question for your friend*. How long was the sand running in his tank and where did he get the sand.

If the sand fairly new, I would just rinse until clear in RO/DI water.

If old... Dry sand is CHEAP. As mentioned above, all you need is a cup of "live sand", in theory, to seed your dry sand.

You do not need a 100% "live sand" IMO. Save money. Everything becomes "live" eventually.

I just replaced my sand in my 240 "in fear" of phosphate issues with my old sand when I had a GHA outbreak.

"7" buckets! 5 gallon buckets? That a TON of sand. Are your going DSB?

??? Scary!

 

Thank you, you have a great point. I don't think I can track down the history of the sand. He has a reef tank service business. I thought he must have a good habit maintaining sand bed. But who knows.

I think I was trying to do research on sand and I thought it was expensive because it's live sand. What dry sand did you use? I've seen people say dry sand is cheap. How cheap?

Yup, I got tons of sand. It's for 180g DT and 50g Macroalgea fuge. I am still debating to have DSB or SSB.

 

You can add it wet, it'll be fine.

If you're not certain about phosphates or nitrates, put a few cups in a bucket of freshly-mixed sw for a week with a small powerhead, and then test it.

 

Well, marinedepot.com sells cheap sand and has a wide variety. Some are as low as 15 bucks for 30 lbs, but you still have to ship it and pay a special handling fee. Like 12 bucks a bag...

I can't really recommend a certain type since there are too many un answered questions. Your going to have to research the thousands of threads on sand types. Like grain size, or crushed coral. Then you have to decide dsb or ssb.