Re-start Up Advice

[toytech]

Ive washed my sand for a couple of tanks now , i just put a few inches in a 10 gal pail and rinse with my hose on full blast . When no more crud or dust comes out of the sand its clean and then its just a matter of rinse and repeat.

[reef684]

Send me a pm. I can give you a scoop of sand from my tank, it will cycle much faster. There are no pests and the lady I got it from shut down her tank so the sand is like 10 years old.

[ScubaSteve]

I've done it both ways now. Just couple of weeks ago I used old sand that I washed the bejeezus out of. Super hot water in a buck 1/3 full of sand. Mix and wash it until the water coming out of the bucket is clear. Rinse and repeat.

That being said... After my swap I had a way bigger cycle than expected and it took down most of my nice big show piece colonies. @*%$. The rock stayed wet and warm during the swap, so the only thing that comes to mind is possibly the sand.

In hind sight, I think I'll just buy new sand from now on.

[cdhollan]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

I've done it both ways now. Just couple of weeks ago I used old sand that I washed the bejeezus out of. Super hot water in a buck 1/3 full of sand. Mix and wash it until the water coming out of the bucket is clear. Rinse and repeat.

That being said... After my swap I had a way bigger cycle than expected and it took down most of my nice big show piece colonies. @*%$. The rock stayed wet and warm during the swap, so the only thing that comes to mind is possibly the sand.

In hind sight, I think I'll just buy new sand from now on.

thanks to all that posted... i ended up just buying new sand, and am re-cycling the tank again.. thanks for the advice guys