Rinsing New Sand?

[NanaReefer]

What method have you used to rinse your new sand?


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[mfinn]

I just cleaned out about 100lbs. of reef sand using a plastic tub that's about 24" x 14" x 12". Something I picked up at home depot as a storage container.
Went over to a little slope in the yard with a bucket to sit on and the garden hose.
Put a 4-5 lbs. of sand in the tub and let the garden hose tumble the heck out of the sand. Rocking the tub up dumping silt laden water.
Over and over again. Kind of like panning for gold
The more time you put in it, the less of a sand storm you have.

 

[mfinn]

Use the garden hose as a stick and let the water pressure move the sand around.
I've done it with buckets and found that if you can keep your hands out of the water, and keep them warm, you will be willing to spend more time doing it.

 

[NanaReefer]

Well I don't have a garden hose but I do have a bathtub & shower head lol Guess this will have to do.

 

[mfinn]

I did it once in the bath tub before, and having warm water does help.
Rinse, rinse, then rinse some more. lol

 

[Gryphon]

I'd be careful doing it in the bath tub, sand down the drain could later cause problems.

 

[NanaReefer]

I'll plug the drain up with filter floss

 

[N1Husker]

I put some in a 5 gallon bucket, fill it up to about 1/2, I put on long rubber gloves with warmer gloves inside, and mix with a garden hose until the water is clear to slightly milky white. I use oolite and I want to get the powder out as much as I can. Takes awhile, but it is worth it too me.

 

[NanaReefer]

Oolite is a finer grain right? More uniform in shape!

 

[Sculpin]

I used my utility sink, which made it a lot easier on the back, and I wasn't too worried about getting too much sand down the drain because it was only the loose floaty particles that were being rinsed out. I've cleaned sand a few times and the method I found works best is to use a BIG bowl and fill it 2/3 with sand and just let the water pour into the bowl and overflow the sides as you stir it with a big cooking spoon. You will be able to see when the water turns clear, at which point you tip the bowl to drain out most of the water, and dump the clean sand (and a little water) into a 5 gallon bucket. Then repeat until all the sand is clean. When you are ready to add the sand to your tank, most of the extra water that went into the 5 gallon container is at the very bottom, so the sand at the top will only be damp. When you've removed most of the sand and get to the wet bottom of the bucket, you can simply tip the bucket slightly to drain most of the remaining water out, our use a colander if you want to try and get every last grain of sand.

 

[N1Husker]

Oolite is a finer grain right? More uniform in shape!

Yes, it is what they refer to as sugar size.

 

[Fahzza]

bucket method + garden hose is a good one. I would not recommend doing it in the middle of winter though. I did it, and it sucked. you could get a sink attachment and run the hose from your kitchen..that way its warm.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Put it in a pillow case and rinse with the showerhead. Move it around and repeat repeat repeat