Question I’m cleaning sand.

[lacrosseboss18]

I’m redoing my tank and unfortunately the sand I want is out of stock so I’m going to reuse my current sand. (Tropic Eden Reeflakes). I’m running fresh water through it in 5 gallon buckets. Would there be a benefit to doing a couple days in a bleach bath or citric acid?
Thanks

 

[Hugh Mann]

No, I don't think where would be any benefit. Just rinse it and keep rinsing it until the water is 100% clear, and then rinse again to be sure.

I did this and reused it without issue.

 

[brandon429]

agreed totally, rinse for hour(s) as long as it takes, then reuse

rinsing in tap is best cuz unlimited, final rinse in clean ro to evacuate tap, done. can re use/

nuances:

dont run full strength lighting after robbing all organics. ramp up over 5 days or so


dont reassemble a cloudy tank from any mechanism, not just this sand. moving live rocks about casts off their waste detritus (mini cycle risk) so as the tank is taken apart for sand access, rinse off all live rocks in saltwater (preserves bacteria, we dont need sand bac)

 

[CoralClasher]

I’ve rinsed my sand a few times just garden hose till clear then RODI back into tank in a few hours no problems bacteria still alive.

 

[Arricefe]

plus 1 for just rinse

 

[lacrosseboss18]

Ok just a good rinsing it is.
thanks

 

[1ByLand2BySea]

If your intention is to remove the organics as much as possible and disinfect, I suggest soaking the sand over night with some Hydrogen Peroxide. Then rinse it well. The advantage of using Hydrogen Peroxide is that it will oxides the organics and disinfects but it will not leave any chemicals behind.
Proper rinsing and if possible using some warm water will break down the Hydrogen Peroxide in case if it is not all used up by the organics in the sand.

 

[zoaprince]

agreed totally, rinse for hour(s) as long as it takes, then reuse

rinsing in tap is best cuz unlimited, final rinse in clean ro to evacuate tap, done. can re use/

nuances:

dont run full strength lighting after robbing all organics. ramp up over 5 days or so


dont reassemble a cloudy tank from any mechanism, not just this sand. moving live rocks about casts off their waste detritus (mini cycle risk) so as the tank is taken apart for sand access, rinse off all live rocks in saltwater (preserves bacteria, we dont need sand bac)

wouldn't the chlorine in tap water kill the beneficial bacteria?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Yes it would. As long as you preserve the biofilter in your filter media and rocks (swish gently in old tank water to remove built up detritus) it will be fine.

You can also save a handful or two of the sand and use it to seed the rinsed stuff.

 

[brandon429]

zp we like to watch for patterns post rinse, outcomes here

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

Not only do I love that job, I did it in my vase :) so it’s been modeled already/ done your job is just bigger. I’m going to link a thread where nobody listens regarding aiptasia removal, apply this to your mushroom tank. the sand cleaning is already covered here / ridding newly cleaned rocks...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

Interesting detail about sand grains at the electron microscope level: it looks like the grand tetons mtns

hiding, sticking, insulating places for bacteria and water resisting slicks by design~

if someone took tap rinsed sand and placed it on sterile agar in petri sets with blanks from the same prep run and held in an incubator at 90deg for 48 hours, I 1000% predict the seeded agar is multi colonized and the blanks are blank. Whatever you want to draw from that / but it’s what I expect from a lab run, of tap rinsed sand. Autoclaved sand would be blank
The risk is never lack of bac we try to show in patterns, it’s under rinsing. Tap allows unlimited detritus ejection, that makes it skip cycle. Final rinse in ro cleans out tap, that sand is ready for sure

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

as long as you have an established biofilter you will be fine. I would follow what Brandon said about ramping up the lights after the reinstall.
I just started a tank and I rinsed the snot out of the new sand and it was cloudless. I did have a great biofilter established for the start up, it was an instant cycle. I had 1 gallon of marinepure spheres that were "cooking" in another tank and I just added some bacteria in a bottle. I had no hesitation in doing what I did. the way I see it is : how do all these frag swaps get set up so quickly and never have issues?


Wash your sand! its worth it!!