I got 2 buckets fo sand from someone as I am starting a new tank. Id say about 2 - 3gal buckets full. Its been sitting in a garage for 2 weeks now. Now im not expecting much "live" but should I worry about using it? It doesnt smell or anything. Been pretty chilly. Never used old sand before. Starting the tank from scratch so Im not too worried about the sand been stirred up and toxins from that.
Old 'live" sand
- Thread starter Dhayden
- Start date
Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:
Dirtsquirt
Well-known member
Wash with RO water then let it air dry, used sand has all sorts of nasties in it that will decay and release things that are counter productive to your tank when you add it in 
fly guy
.
do yourself a favor and toss it.
whenever you get the opportunity to start your sandbed with a clean slate ...take advantage of it. dont EVER reuse sand. use new dry sand, it will become live soon enough on its own. If you really wnat you can seed it with a cup or two of old established sand, but thats not even necessary.
you cant rinse the phosphates out of sand, and rinsing it with RO water would completely defeat the unecessary purpose of using established sand in the first place as it will kill the bacteria and most all other critters as well
whenever you get the opportunity to start your sandbed with a clean slate ...take advantage of it. dont EVER reuse sand. use new dry sand, it will become live soon enough on its own. If you really wnat you can seed it with a cup or two of old established sand, but thats not even necessary.
you cant rinse the phosphates out of sand, and rinsing it with RO water would completely defeat the unecessary purpose of using established sand in the first place as it will kill the bacteria and most all other critters as well
Last edited:
There are lot of nasties in old sand, but it is expensive to buy ~6 gallons of sand. My dad got a ton of sand when he bought a used set up. He rinsed it thoroughly with tap water (used a fine net) and then let it dry out completely. This worked for him, but there is a chance of the used sand releasing nitrates and phosphates into your system.
-chris
-chris
class clown
Well-known member
two people have mentioned drying it out afterwards. What's the purpose of this?
Most of the "nasties" in old sand will be as particles lodged between the sand grains. The actual porosity of sand is fairly low and very little material will be absorbed into the sand grains themselves.
While it would be preferable to start with new sand, seeded with a cup or two of old, "live" sand, economics cannot be ignored.
If it were my sand, and I wanted to re-use as much as possible, this is what I would do:
1) put about a three-inch layer of sand in a 5- (or 6-) gallon bucket.
2) add clean tap water (this will use so much water that I would not try to use RODI)
3) stir like mad to get all of the sand into suspension, and then finish by stirring round and round to create a whirlpool (homebrewers - you know what I am talking about if you do grain brewing)
4) allow the sand to settle and the water to completely stop moving
5) siphon out the "crud" and really fine sand which collected in the middle, as well as the top 1/8 to 1/4" of sand all over. Also siphon out the remaining water.
This sand will now be quite clean, but will be missng some of the finer particles. That is the sacrifice you will have to make in order to clean the sand by the above method.
Note - the logic behind the above procedure is that detritus is lighter (in specific gravity) than sand, and so it settles more slowly. The larger sand particles settle first, followed by the smaller sand particles and finally by the detritus and finest sand particles. The above procedure separates out the detritus for easier removal.
This procedure will probably eliminate a lot of the desirable bacteria as well as desirable critters. If you think there is anything desirable still alive in the sand before you start the above procedure, set aside a cup or two of the sand before you start.
While it would be preferable to start with new sand, seeded with a cup or two of old, "live" sand, economics cannot be ignored.
If it were my sand, and I wanted to re-use as much as possible, this is what I would do:
1) put about a three-inch layer of sand in a 5- (or 6-) gallon bucket.
2) add clean tap water (this will use so much water that I would not try to use RODI)
3) stir like mad to get all of the sand into suspension, and then finish by stirring round and round to create a whirlpool (homebrewers - you know what I am talking about if you do grain brewing)
4) allow the sand to settle and the water to completely stop moving
5) siphon out the "crud" and really fine sand which collected in the middle, as well as the top 1/8 to 1/4" of sand all over. Also siphon out the remaining water.
This sand will now be quite clean, but will be missng some of the finer particles. That is the sacrifice you will have to make in order to clean the sand by the above method.
Note - the logic behind the above procedure is that detritus is lighter (in specific gravity) than sand, and so it settles more slowly. The larger sand particles settle first, followed by the smaller sand particles and finally by the detritus and finest sand particles. The above procedure separates out the detritus for easier removal.
This procedure will probably eliminate a lot of the desirable bacteria as well as desirable critters. If you think there is anything desirable still alive in the sand before you start the above procedure, set aside a cup or two of the sand before you start.
DonW
R.I.P.
I would just toss it. Although its expensive it may or may not come back to haunt you. I dont really agree with giving a new tank a kickstart with someone elses sand but thats more so being paranoid. Recently I heard of a guy putting pee in a tank to give it a kick start and it worked. We tried this with a friends 55 and it does work real well. Sound disgusting but it works.
Don
Don
Reeferdude
Reeferdude
dnjan, I agree 100%!
A thorough cleaning will be close to starting out new with dry sand. Thorough mind you! After 2 weeks in the garage there's probably little left alive. I wouldn't chance it. Just clean it. You may want to wear a rubber glove too. You'll wear the skin right off your fingers...Not that I would know. Great way to exfoliate...
A thorough cleaning will be close to starting out new with dry sand. Thorough mind you! After 2 weeks in the garage there's probably little left alive. I wouldn't chance it. Just clean it. You may want to wear a rubber glove too. You'll wear the skin right off your fingers...Not that I would know. Great way to exfoliate...
Last edited:
Not sure why I put to dry it out. With my dad's it was going to be a couple months before he used it so it made sense at the time (a bucket of wet sand could mold or something, but there shouldn't be much nutrient left). I suppose it is an unnecessary step...
-chris
-chris
Dirtsquirt
Well-known member
Play Sand from Toys'R'us is useable, but has silicates. It may or may not affect you down the road, YMMV. There is another place that sells it for $1/lb in Bellevue (some teachers outlet store.) Silicate free but it isn't much cheaper than the stuff sold in your LFS.
-Dan
-Dan
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
IMO, there is nothing wrong with thoroughly washing sand
Reeferdude
Reeferdude
Five say it's ok to clean and use. Two say to toss it. That's 71.4% saying cleaning is OK and only 28.6% in favor of spending your money. LOL...
DonW
R.I.P.
Five say it's ok to clean and use. Two say to toss it. That's 71.4% saying cleaning is OK and only 28.6% in favor of spending your money. LOL...
:lol: I would look at it as 100% dont know if the sand is contaminated or not and can or cannot be cleaned to acceptable level.
Don
I can's stay out of sand discussions....:lol:
The used sand will be just fine if cleaned thouroughly. I've been re-using substrates for over 20 years...My DSB had a lower layer of material that had been used in my tanks for two decades. There have been several suggestions on how to clean the sand, all will work good. If you are still worried about it, you can boil the sand in water, that will really loosen up any crud trapped in the sand itself, and kill any bad microbes that may be lurking in there.
One thing to bear in mind is that the new sand you buy is likely just as contaminated as the used stuff. Most aragonite is mined from dry quarries, where it has been exposed to years and years of runoff. The sand usually has been exposed to lots of phosphates, nitrates, and other pollutants. Just look at all the deliterious material that floats out of it when you rinse a new bag of sand.
MikeS
The used sand will be just fine if cleaned thouroughly. I've been re-using substrates for over 20 years...My DSB had a lower layer of material that had been used in my tanks for two decades. There have been several suggestions on how to clean the sand, all will work good. If you are still worried about it, you can boil the sand in water, that will really loosen up any crud trapped in the sand itself, and kill any bad microbes that may be lurking in there.
One thing to bear in mind is that the new sand you buy is likely just as contaminated as the used stuff. Most aragonite is mined from dry quarries, where it has been exposed to years and years of runoff. The sand usually has been exposed to lots of phosphates, nitrates, and other pollutants. Just look at all the deliterious material that floats out of it when you rinse a new bag of sand.
MikeS
Reeferdude
Reeferdude
You are welcome to look at it any way you like.
Six say it's ok to clean and use. Two say to toss it. That's 75% saying cleaning is OK and only 25% in favor of spending your money. LOL. For those keeping track LOL..
DonW
R.I.P.
You are welcome to look at it any way you like.
Six say it's ok to clean and use. Two say to toss it. That's 75% saying cleaning is OK and only 25% in favor of spending your money. LOL. For those keeping track LOL..
Its not a debate, lets not turn it into one. It was an attempt at humor as was your post.
Don
Agreed....
The real risk isn't really detritus, organics or microbes, as the large majority of these can be removed or destroyed by good rinsing and boiling...the real problem can lie in medications used like copper, these are more difficult to remove. Having said that, it would be wise to use carbon in the tank. While this won't directly remove copper from the substrate, it will remove it from the water column...
MikeS
