Dealing with sand

[witecap4u]

So I bought Chris's 200gal and the 350lbs of sand that goes with it. The sand is packed in a couple 5gal buckets, rubbermaid totes and what ever else we could find. Anyways, whats the best way to deal with the die off, or smelly areas(?anaerobic?) of sand without drying it? Most of the sand still has a layer of water on top, will keeping it this wet benefit anything?

Should I freshwater rinse and make sure it gets stirred really well while rinsing it and then use it, or should I just put it in the tank and stir it really well while the tank is full/filling and run lots of carbon. What other options do I have for making the sand usable. My plan is to hopefully get the tank in the house and start filling by next weekend.

cs

[witecap4u]

well, i've got 3 18x24" rubbermaid totes 3/4 full and two 5 gal buckets full. Its probably gonna sit this way for a week I'd guess.

cs

[GaryP]

I would just go ahead and wash it and kill the bacteria in it and start over from scratch. I've done this before with "recycled" sand with no problems. Its a lot of work though. Just keep stirring it and pouring off the silty, brown water. I then spread it out on my drive way on some plastic sheeting to let it dry.

When you get ready to get the tank back up and running, just re-seed it with some donated sand from other folks. Some reef grunge from GARF is also good to help it get restarted.

[witecap4u]

Can I just rinse it and use it without drying? I've though about drying, but to spread it out in the driveway, it will aquire alot of pine needles since we live in the sticks...

I'll probably take the top layer out of my 100gal to seed it.

[GaryP]

Maybe get some window screen material from Home Depot to cover it with? You'll also need to turn it occasionally, the water is going to sink to the bottom.

I'm afraid if you just leave it wet its going to get nasty again unless you wait and wash it right before you put it in the tank. That may be the way to go. I didn't have that option because I was trying to save this sand for later projects and to use to replenish my existing sand beds.

[matt]

I don't know if you have to dry it, but basically you've got to clean it and get all the dead stuff out, which is probably ALOT of stuff if it's going to sit a week. You're probably talking about many rinses in fresh water. If your final rinse is with RO water, you could put it in the tank wet I suppose, then stir it really well to allow the fresh water to mix in with your tank water, let everything settle, then adjust salinity. I guess it depends on how much you want to re-use the sand vs tossing it and buying new. As far as keeping the stuff you have alive, if it already smells like rotten eggs, forget it. If not and you want to try saving it, or part of it that doesn't stink, you might try putting 5-6" in a big tub, then filling that tub with fresh saltwater and keeping a couple of powerheads in there to really keep it moving, and an airstone or small skimmer would not hurt.. You'll probably need a few tubs. Don't even try to do it in a bucket. Good luck; sad to hear Chris sold his tank, but glad that someone in MAAST got it! It's a nice set up.

[v2k]

I will be needing sand to make some aragonite rocks,,,so if you want to sell it and buy some new sand for your tank...let me know

[phage]

I've moved my 120 with a 4" DSB 4 times now, and I take it out in layers into rubbermaid totes, keep a little powerhead in each one to keep water moving, then put it back in tank in the same order it came out (anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks later on my moves) and have yet to lose a fish or coral. If you don't let the temp or air get way off, a rubbermaid tub is just like an aquarium to anythign living in there. If there was good water movement and enough critters in it, there shouldnt be any smelly nasty areas in the sand. Unless by nasty you're just talking about smelling like the beach. If it smells like rotten eggs then thats bad.