I hope the picture can show what I actually see...
I used my old sand, as-is on this new build. When I removed it from the tank 48 hours ago, it smelled like the ocean. When I dumped it into the tank this afternoon, it had a strong off scent. Pretty bad smell actually.
Most people would cringe at just the idea of reusing old sand, let alone as-is the way I did.
I did what I did for a reason. ALL of the microscopic and non-microscopic life that lives in the sand is valuable to a tank!! I can already see many of the little Asterina starfish climbing up onto the glass. (I hope they show up in the photo).
If I had washed that sand, I would have done what most people would do.. go outside and use the hose to rinse it till the water ran clean, then a few doses of RODI water to make it tank ready. Be honest, this is what almost EVERYONE would do!!
If I had done that, would I have those little Asterina's? now? How much of the microscopic stuff would simple be either flushed out or outright killed by chlorinated tap water?
How much of what we have been conditioned to believe as "carved in stone rules" are actually true? I can run a test for the major stuff on my tank right now, and show some actual numbers for parameters. What will that mean to the health of what we need to realize is an ECOSYSTEM, not an aquarium!!
There are no tests that I own, or am aware of for the hobbyist, that can test for the micro-fauna that we need in our tanks to have that thriving beautiful tank.
I am not usually a fan of BRStv stuff, but the presentation that Ryan did at Reef-A-Palooza which is on YouTube, started me thinking long and hard about the value of these microscopic critters and their value to a system overall.
This is why I made the decision NOT to wash the sand from my old tank.
