Rules for rinsing sand

Aquaman102 · Mar 20, 2019

I've got some sand arriving today. It's not the "live" kind, just standard aragonite sand from BRS.

Can I rinse it out with tap water, strain it out and add it to the tank or do I need to rinse it with tap water and let it completely dry out before adding it? Not sure if it matters, but I only get 1 TDS on my RO/DI unit when I check the inbound side.

Eagle_Steve · Mar 20, 2019

Aquaman102 said:
I've got some sand arriving today. It's not the "live" kind, just standard aragonite sand from BRS.

Can I rinse it out with tap water, strain it out and add it to the tank or do I need to rinse it with tap water and let it completely dry out before adding it? Not sure if it matters, but I only get 1 TDS on my RO/DI unit when I check the inbound side.

Some people prefer RO/DI other use tap. I use tap to rinse sand and have seen no ill effects from it. This includes ripping sand from an active tank and then rinsing it, putting it in a bucket with some newly made saltwater, adding some declorinator and then putting it back in an active tank directly from the bucket with the salt water. Normally I lose water when getting the sand out, so it kind of is a water change also.

@brandon429 can probably give you a little more data on tap water being used for rinsing new sand, old sand, and whatever sand. He has a huge sand rinse thread dedicated to sand rinsing lol. Mostly active tanks with issues and other things, but the same should apply for new sand.

sbash · Mar 20, 2019

There are no rules...

Using RO/DI would be the best, as it minimizes any trace chemicals or minerals being left behind. However, it is not only more expensive (you would need quite a bit of water), but way more effort.

Sand is dusty, especially new sand. I have used city water in the past, but I am on a well now. I take a 5 gallon bucket and fill it 1/3 full with sand. Then drop the hose end in (to the sand level), then start dialling it up until the pressure is high enough to stir the sand, but not throw it out of the bucket. The water will fill up and overflow (I do this outside, lol). I check in every 10 minutes (stir it up with my hand, or my stir stick) until the water is clear, I repeat that process until I have no more sand to clean. It takes more effort to set up the hose than it does to rinse the sand.

If I am using it right away, I'll put it strait into the tank. Otherwise, I put it into long, shallow plastic containers (like you would buy to store shoes under you bed) to dry out. Once dry, I put it into a bucket and store for later use.

PatW · Mar 20, 2019

I rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse with tap to clean out the sediment. I would wet it with RODI and drain at least twice to flush out the tap water. But that is just me.