High Phosphates in Rinsed Sand
 

So more than a year ago I went bare bottom. Took the sand out and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed it till the water ran clear. Dried it out and stored it in Rubbermaid in the garage.

Decided I wanted to add sand to give the tank a finished look. Rinsed the sand again with hose and drained the fresh water out. Just to make sure I mixed up some new salt water and threw a heater and powerhead with a filter on it into the Rubbermaid.

After 2 weeks I pulled out my Hanna checker and phosphates were 0.93

Is this normal? Will cooking the sand in the dark and doing weekly water changes bring down the phosphates?

Yes and yes. :)

If you stir the sand once a day or so that will help leach faster, especially if it is fairly deep in the tub.

I stir it daily and the filter removes the debris (what little there is).

It will take awhile to leach that much phosphate out, probably a month. You can use GFO or a Lanthanum chloride product to hurry it along if you want, but that will just cost you money.

Will the phosphates com down to ZERO? Or how low before I add the sand to my 160G system

Hi,

You can use Foz Down to neutralize the Phosphate. The filter can remove any phosphate that precipitates out. You will need to let the sand release more phosphates and then use Foz Down to remove that as well. Eventually all the phosphate will come out of the sand.

If you wish to try Foz Down I can arrange to get you some since I produce it.

Cheers,
Tim

Where can I get this? What is shelf life if not open?