Sterilize sand?

[Scribe]

So I've had some sand from way back, that has never been in the tank, and some of the same that had been in a tank. It's the play sand they used to sell at Home Depot back in the day that people used for their tanks. I've slowly been adding more sand to the tank...mostly Carib sea live sand, but figured I'd put this in too. Just wondering if there is some way I shoulda sterilize it. Or is a good cleaning with hot water good enough? Thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mcarroll]

Plain, cold water should do it. No reason not to add all the sand at once if you want it all in there. (Remember though, more than enough is not better.)

If you're doing more than rinsing out the fines (seems like you're wanting more than a rinse) you might consider using it in the garden or something else instead.

New aragonite sand isn't that expensive to be worth any amount of risk on sand you might think is actually dirty.

-Matt

 

[Scribe]

I m going to buy some more Carib sea. Just had this around figured I'd use it. My sand bed is only about an inch in places. I'm going to be adding a yellow wrasse shortly and wanted to give it a little more depth to burrow in. Want to try to bring it up to about to about 2 inches or so.

 

[mcarroll]

Awesome fish!

I'd still leave it at 1" if it were me - stays cleaner longer. He'll be fine. Somewhere there's a vid of another sand dwelling wrasse in a bare bottom tank....just has a PVC fitting full of sand to sleep in. They are adaptable.

If I were going to take it over an inch, I'd do it in just 1 or 2 spots at most.

-Matt

 

[Scribe]

I got some live sand yesterday. Your right about not using the old stuff and just buying new. Have to put some in tonight. Wrasse are supposed to come tomorrow. I'm not going to add too much....but the front where the wave makers hit barely have a coating, so I would like to beef it up.

 

[StevenBell]

IMO I would stay away from the sand they sell for playgrounds and things like that.They have a lot of heavy and fine metallic metals in them that could cause some issues down the road.Just my 2 cents

 

[mcarroll]

IMO I would stay away from the sand they sell for playgrounds and things like that.They have a lot of heavy and fine metallic metals in them that could cause some issues down the road.Just my 2 cents

Good point, but I think it may apply equally to most any sand product (vs natural sand). There are metal burrs involved in the grinding process and as they wear (which is slowly), bits will find their way into the product. It's not often in the grand scheme of things, but I've seen it enough times in mainstream products that I think running a powerful magnet through new gravel isn't a bad idea. (I'm not as worried about heavy metals as I am these metal bits getting picked up by an algae magnet later when I'm not watching....great way to etch glass.)

-Matt