Would you suggest against this?

[hooked82]

Well I'm going to be picking up my tank next weekend. Its a 125 gallon with about a 2"-3" sb in the main tank and about a 6" dsb in the fuge. Its been up and running for 5 years. Now, the sand doesnt look all that great and a I can tell he never took care of it. Doesnt have any snails, hermits or small fish as a hitchhiker crab ate them all, so it more than likely didnt get cared for. My original plan was to get rid of the sand and buy new sand. Well I'm finding that not many places in my area have much of a stock for sand and not much of a selection. Is it possible to clean the old sand, possibly bleach it or something for reuse in the tank after its setup? This would be great but not sure how advised it is.

The closest place to me that has the sand is about 3 hours away(The Shark Reef) but they wouldnt be able to have any until next Tuesday, which will be after I need the tank setup. Any ideas would be great. Thanks guys!!

 

[Brenden]

Yes you can wash out out good and reuse it. Do not bleach it. Have you checked HD for the aragnite sand? If you were closer I could hook you up. I still have about a ton left.

 

[ronj]

if the tank wasn't taken care of, i wouldn't use the sand, especially if it appears to be bad!! if you just had to do this, you could rinse it really, really well several times and let it set out in the sun for a week or two..(JMO)...also, you could go barebottom and have a tank that is alot cleaner..i'm setting up my new 125g right now..i'm going barebottom on this one

 

[Brenden]

Ron please keep your weekend activities private. We do not care about your bare bottom.

 

[ronj]

only on Saturdays!!!!

 

[Brenden]

Ron does your current tank have sand?

 

[Scooterman]

You can use the play sand from HD, cheaper!
You will find when you drain the tank to move it, that will be the tell sign of just how nasty the sb really is, you will need to remove it to move the tank anyways.

 

[Krish]

I agree...Just use the HD sand or let it sit out for a while in the sun to die -off. Not sure how much time you have to wait on it, so buying "playsand" may be the quickest and cheapest way to go and you can just use a cup full of the old stuff to seed it

 

[ronj]

Ron does your current tank have sand?

yes it does..about 3" of aragonite..i am going to dump it most likely..i want to have a low nutrient environment for my tangs!!! my nitrates are always around 20, no matter how many water changes i did!!

 

[hooked82]

Thanks for the input guys. As far as going to to HD or Lowes to get play sand, they really dont have much in my area. They have a little play sand but it really doesnt look like something I would want to put into my tank. They especially dont have aragonite play sand. I was contemplating going BB but I like all the sand sifters. I put in an order for 125lbs. of aragonite but I let the guy know that if he couldnt get it on the truck for tomorrow then I wouldnt be able to purchase. We'll see what happens.

Another thing, is that I will have about 250lbs. of sand to dispose of. Theres a 6" dsb in the refugium plus 3" dsb in the main tank. I guess like you said scooterman that the tell tale sign will be when I move it. Just want to be well prepared if its bad.

 

[dpaynter]

If the sand is the right particle size, it may be worth saving. You can rinse it if youv'e got lots of buckets and patience.

 

[hooked82]

Well I was over there just now getting a few more measurements for the plumbing. Checked out the sand, most looks like caribsea select oolite and the rest is a bit bigger. Not much of the sand is on the front glass as I'm sure it has been blown around, but there are many gas pockets and not all that far from the surface. So by seeing this, I would assume that it isnt all too much good.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Sheesh, this is dirty sand we are talking about, not used up charcoal. Put all the old sand in a new or very clean 33 gallon plastic garbage can in the backyard and hose it until it rinses clear. Pretty easy and doesn't take long. You will still have some bacteria but rince away the detrius and most extra organics. The cleaned sand will probably cycle back within a few days if it needs to cycles at all.

 

[hooked82]

I will probably clean the sand and see how it is afterwards. I've bought more sand for the main tank but still would like to use some in the fuge. We'll see how it works out. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[burning2nd]

you not picking that up homie, your takeing it apart and pulling it peace by peace.

but if you can pick it up, im calling you when i move.


is the sand that bad? cant it be cleaned and reused?

id keep it all the same if possabul, just clean and upgrade