Info needed - cleaning old sand

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by bignose

you could also get new sand and add some of your current sand on top.

I got two new bags of sand but i dont want to throw my old sand away....

if placing it in a "system" without light and doing water changes is all that is necessary.... sounds like I could just go ahead... rinse it a bit and start my new tank cycling and let it clear up... there is only about 20-25 lbs.... less than half of what I am adding new.

Clean the worms out and go to town???

[paddyob]

Also... there will be no livestock of any sort until cycling is done.

[The Grizz]

I used a large fish net and rinsed 2 cups at a time until the water was clean. Put it back into the tank, added water, rock, coral and fish the next day without any issues.

Have done this a few time's now.

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

I used a large fish net and rinsed 2 cups at a time until the water was clean. Put it back into the tank, added water, rock, coral and fish the next day without any issues.

Have done this a few time's now.

The sand has been sitting in a 5 gallon pail for two weeks....

what about all the dead worms and what not? You say until the water is clean.... meaning?

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Myka

It will probably leech nitrate and phosphate, so it depends how much you care about that. A perfectionist would "cook" the sand in a similar way to how you cook live rock. Many people will just rinse well and re-use. Personally, I would not use used sand without cooking it as I do not enjoy algae blooms.

I used 10 year old sand from my friend's reef and have never had an algae bloom. He's had an established system for 10 years (and it's by no means a pristine tank) running a deep sand bed. He decided to go to a shallow sand bed and yanked a bunch of sand out. It went into his backyard and I got some and just rinsed thoroughly with tap water and my full sps system has been running just over a year with no algae blooms.

So what you are saying is that my algae bloom hasn't happened yet? I am kind of a perfectionist (at least I think I am) but I'm also very cheap, so free was better than buying sand.

I also used 10 plus year old live rock.

Maybe it's because I'm running ULNS that I haven't had an algae bloom?

I think it's fairly safe to say from my own experience just rinse several times with water until it runs clearish and you should be okay.