Substrate- Should I rinse it?

[Magostini]

Hi everyone, I'm about to start reefing a new tank. I have Nature's Ocean Aragonite (#1) as substrate and the question is: should I rinse it before adding in the reef? If I have to do so, what is the best way to do it?

Thank you!

 

[brandon429]

rinse in tap water for hours/as long as it takes to be perfectly clear.

final rinse in RO water, ready. whether or not it harms bacteria doesn't matter, you aren't buying the sand for a benefit from bacteria anyway (that may be the intention, but not how it plays out)

here's some non start rinsers among the hundreds stating to not pre rinse:

 

[brandon429]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/so-i-didnt-rinse.592624/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sandbed-stirred-up.544852/#post-5723606

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/very-cloudy-water-after-sand-and-rock.559386/#post-5735864
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/question-about-vacuuming-sand-bed.616059/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-tank-milky-cloudy.616519/

even though that happens only about 25% of the time, why risk it

we rinse to avoid silting, and keeping silt has no benefit

Your system isn't going to be changed for the better by adding sandbed bacteria

its tolerant of sandbed bacteria, sandbed bacteria compete with live rock surface bacteria for oxygen and space and produce waste acids that require offsets in reefing.

pre rinsing doesn't mean your sand will be without bacteria, all items in a reef tank are covered in bacteria even if they start with some, or none.

case closed, no benefit to skipping a pre rinse.

 

[Subsea]

Rinsing would remove any debris during collection. Depends on the volume as to best method to rinse.

Not rinsing extends cloudiness of water in new tank, which will clear up after a week or so.

 

[brandon429]

some didn't clear up though, in the threads = slight risk and no benefit of keeping that risk in place

one fellow had a powerhead dislodge and soup the whole tank up with silt, after initially stabilizing

its just a plain risk. another had a stack of live rocks slide over and slam down into the sand.

whoever makes sand that truly needs to pre rinse and can't leave us examples for the null in work threads will be rich

 

[Subsea]

Marcelo,
You will find many schools of thoughts with seemingly conflicting operational methods on this website. What do you envision for your 100G new build? You mentioned that you operated a smaller tank for 10 years. Is your new build going to have a sump or refugium?

Nitrification bacteria are very quickly established and can be done with bacteria culture in a bottle. Diversity of bacteria in a reef tank is much more complex than wet sand in a bag. Consider for how long in bag and instead of nitrifying bacteria (oxidation), you may have sulfide bacteria (reducing chemistry). Your nose should warn you. I agree with @brandon429 about flushing out wet sand in a bag.

However, Real Live Sand is a differrent story as higher level micro fauna & fana are brought along with detrivores to process organic & inorganic nutrients into live food to feed hungry mouths. Yes, I use my sandbed to feed sea apples, flame scallops, feather duster, sponges and coral.

 

[brandon429]

also agreed its only a minority of tanks that get the bad outcome, vast majority is going to flocculate it and sink it fine. in dealing with only outliers in the work threads the scary part becomes most routine heh

 

[lpsouth1978]

I ALWAYS rinse my sand when setting up a new system. In the early days, I would just dump live sand in and pray that the tank cleared in a week or two. Sometimes it did, but anything I did in the tank would cause it to cloud all over again. Now I place 20lbs of sand in a bucket, shove a hose in the bottom and run the water for as long as it takes to run clear, while stirring the sand regularly. Rinse and repeat 20lbs at a time until all the sand has been cleaned. It takes a LONG time, but is worth it in the end.

 

[Magostini]

Marcelo,
You will find many schools of thoughts with seemingly conflicting operational methods on this website. What do you envision for your 100G new build? You mentioned that you operated a smaller tank for 10 years. Is your new build going to have a sump or refugium?

Nitrification bacteria are very quickly established and can be done with bacteria culture in a bottle. Diversity of bacteria in a reef tank is much more complex than wet sand in a bag. Consider for how long in bag and instead of nitrifying bacteria (oxidation), you may have sulfide bacteria (reducing chemistry). Your nose should warn you. I agree with @brandon429 about flushing out wet sand in a bag.

However, Real Live Sand is a differrent story as higher level micro fauna & fana are brought along with detrivores to process organic & inorganic nutrients into live food to feed hungry mouths. Yes, I use my sandbed to feed sea apples, flame scallops, feather duster, sponges and coral.

Thank you for your input! Providing more details, it's going to be a 100 gallon tank with a sump. The plan is to speed up cycling with Brightwell Microbacter Start Xlm and Quikcycl (cycling without any fish). After the cycling the plan is to follow with Microbacter Clean....
I remember 10 years ago I didn't follow all the steps and the cycling was not full.... I am still impacted for that and that's why I want to start correctly this time

 

[Subsea]

Thank you for your input! Providing more details, it's going to be a 100 gallon tank with a sump. The plan is to speed up cycling with Brightwell Microbacter Start Xlm and Quikcycl (cycling without any fish). After the cycling the plan is to follow with Microbacter Clean....
I remember 10 years ago I didn't follow all the steps and the cycling was not full.... I am still impacted for that and that's why I want to start correctly this time

OK

For me, it’s not so complex. Add nitrification bacteria and give them food in the form of ammonia. Once nitrification bacteria are established, I bring in my ugliest live rock from other tanks to seed biodiversity. To maximize biodiversity, I suggest diver collected uncured live rock. No fish for six months. Not sure what you can get in landlocked São Paulo, Brazil.

Gulf Live Rock.com

gulfliverock.com

 

[Subsea]

Product description
Nature's Ocean Aragonite Sand#1 20LBS (Grain size: 1.2 -1.7mm). Premium Aragonite Reef Substrate for aquariums reduces Nitrates & Maintains pH. Ideal for reef system tank bottoms, denitrifying anaerobic beds, extremely high surface area filter media. For Best Results Use as Follows: Pre-washed Minimum Rinse Required.

@Magostini

In my experiences, 1mm-2mm grain size is very large. It will collect detritus and it will require excessive sand bed maintenance. I operated a Jaubert Plenum with that grain size for 20 years.

Consider using that aragonite in a DIY calcium reactor to assist with alkalinity management. Instead for display tank substrate < 1” of Special Reef Grade aragonite at about 0.1mm - 1 mm in diameter.o

 

[lpsouth1978]

Product description
Nature's Ocean Aragonite Sand#1 20LBS (Grain size: 1.2 -1.7mm). Premium Aragonite Reef Substrate for aquariums reduces Nitrates & Maintains pH. Ideal for reef system tank bottoms, denitrifying anaerobic beds, extremely high surface area filter media. For Best Results Use as Follows: Pre-washed Minimum Rinse Required.

@Magostini

In my experiences, 1mm-2mm grain size is very large. It will collect detritus and it will require excessive sand bed maintenance. I operated a Jaubert Plenum with that grain size for 20 years.

Consider using that aragonite in a DIY calcium reactor to assist with alkalinity management. Instead for display tank substrate < 1” of Special Reef Grade aragonite at about 0.1mm - 1 mm in diameter.o

I agree. My go to sand is the Special Grade. I think it is the ideal size to make maintenance easy, looks good, and is good for wrasses, sand sifters, and anemones.