Rinsing sand??

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Gietz

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Hey All,
So I got 40 lbs of sand in the other day and 20 lbs of live. I know I don't rinse the live but what about the other sand and was wondering if I needed to rinse it or just add it straight to the tank? There is no water in the tank and I want to add the sand and the mess around with the rock I got (base rock) so I can figure out a design I like.

Thx for the help

Cheers
 
P

phi delt reefer

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a good rinse with ro water is recommended to get rid of the dust or run a filter sock in your sump to catch the dust if you just want to throw it in the tank immediately.

rinsing sand is pretty easy. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with 1/3 sand and 1/3 ro water. Use your hand to throughly agitate the sand.  Carefully pour out the water or use a small container to remove it. Repeat the process two or three more times or until the water remains relatively clear after agitating the sand.
 
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Gietz

Guest
ya I'm just really excited to start this tank lol i got my Ro DI system coming in the 26 so i guess ill just rinse it then, heck I've been waiting 4 months to start so i guess i can wait a little long  :p  ha ha ha
 
P

phi delt reefer

Guest
if you really want to start things right, soak your rocks in ro and vinegar/scrub em and then soak in plain ro. measure the phosphates of the water they are soaking in. if there are phosphates do a lanthanum treatment to precipitate the phosphates locked up in the rock. you will have a truly clean start up that way :)
 
G

Gietz

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OK perfect thanks you for the help looking forward to posting pics up here soon

cheers
 
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eco-reefer.com

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Dec 2, 2010
Location
Kitchener, Ontario
With the Bahamas sugar fine sand no matter how many times you rinse you will never get the water to come up clear. The grains are so small that each time you rinse/agitate the sand, grains will break down so you will always will have a brownish tint to the water. I recommend if you really want to rinse the sand (its very clean to start with) one rinse only to get rid of scum and floaties. 80% of our customers just put the sand directly into their tank and add water (some add a hang on back filter during the initial period to remove any of the floaties or scum).
 
blaked

blaked

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Dec 22, 2010
Location
Chatham, Ontario
not to doubt your knowlegde eco reefer, but u can rinse sugar sand and get it nice and clean,
sand particles are the remains of varoiuse rocks and such, acutally mostly quartz.
sand is the final stage of the break down and in most cases will not get any smaller, even if u were to try grinding it together.

i do not know the actual composition of the sugar sand, im thinking it has some calcium, because yes it does take a lil longer to clear up.

but u gotta understand the proccesing, some sands just come cleener from the suppliers than other sand.

not trying to disproove any one, just giving my thoughts.
 
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shayneh

Guest
Blaked the composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions. The best sands for our tanks are comprised of eroded limestone and may contain coral and shell fragments in addition to other organic materials and of course the calcium carbonate from all the tiny marine inverts. I would actually be leery of any sand consisting of quartz as this is an indication it was taken from an inland source and quartz breaking down can/will release silicates in the tank. These are a very good food source for algae and will constantly fuel algae blooms.

Sand that is high in calcium carbonate content will not rinse clear as any agitation of the sand will cause the calcium to break down further and make the water cloudy. Eco-reefer only sells rock and sand and Torsten and Rich are very knowledgeable so I'm fairly certain they know what they are talking about and are the best source of advice on the products they sell. 
 
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Cal_stir

Guest
i tried some sugarfine sand in my 75, i don't like it, it gets sucked out when vacuuming
also i read a study done on DSBs and course sand was actually better fhan sugarfine sand, i read that after i built my RDSB and i never tried it with course sand so i can't say from experience whether it is true or not.
IMHO i would use coarse sand, it's better
 
pulpfiction1

pulpfiction1

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eco-reefer.com link said:
With the Bahamas sugar fine sand no matter how many times you rinse you will never get the water to come up clear. The grains are so small that each time you rinse/agitate the sand, grains will break down so you will always will have a brownish tint to the water. I recommend if you really want to rinse the sand (its very clean to start with) one rinse only to get rid of scum and floaties. 80% of our customers just put the sand directly into their tank and add water (some add a hang on back filter during the initial period to remove any of the floaties or scum).
Click to expand...

my water was always clear with that sand,just look up my older picks of my cube
 
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