H2S overload! How should I proceed?

[Rustylugnuts]

I had my reef tank in storage after the move and I'm just now setting it back up. My fish didn't make the move but I was able to save most of the corals in a quarantine tank.

Well I kept the DSB in some buckets for about a month and a half and when I got about 6-8" down OMG what a horrible stench :eek1:!
It was just the kinda rotten eggs/ raw sewage smell that could knock a buzzard offa turd wagon and the sand had a kinda dingy grey look to it too:hmm5: .

Anyway I went ahead and placed all of the sand in the display tank with enough FW to fill the tank up to the overflow. First I agitated the sand enough to turn the water into a dark chocolate milk and then I installed a pair of koralia 2's, an empty canster filter with a sponge over the intake, a maxijet 1200 with venturi off the seaclone skimmer, and a heater. Now the sand looks better and the water is just barely starting to clear up.

I know the oxygenation and high flow will kill off the anaerobic bacteria.
My question is will high flow, oxygenation and agitating the sandbed a few times by hand be enough to get rid of any remaining hydrogen sulfide or should I just break out the buckets and screwgun with the mixing paddle and rinse the bejesus outta my sand?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Sk8r]

sheesh! I started mine after a move with new sand, but with the conditions you describe on my rocks. Beware of serious deposits on your circulating equipment; you're going to need to own a white vinegar franchise, I fear, based on my example. Pumps, even hoses.

I'd start running carbon. A lot of it. Often. you might consider a 1 micron filter sock for a day or 2. Your pipes will thank you.

[Rustylugnuts]

If you were able to put those rocks back in action then maybe I don't need a few hours of sand rinsing.

I didn't use enough water to need any plumbing because I figured that this water was going to get pitched anyway. Hopefully I'll be getting my RO filter back the week after next. Until then I'll keep runnin as much flow as I have as well as performing daily sand stirrings and cleanings on the sponges for the canister and maxijet .

[Sk8r]

Yeah, just clean it out. It's going to cycle, no question. My cycle took 5 days, and I was so upset having cooked my rock due to a moving delay I had just put the rock in dripping gray goo. Though I did have new sand. The aftershocks of clogged pumps took about a year to manifest; so I'd advise when you have leisure, just do some maintance overnight soaking in vinegar after you have your water running clean and you can just get rid of the last of the aftereffects.

[Rustylugnuts]

Gonna take that vinegar advice. How many gallons of acetic acid should I grab to lower the pH of 70 Gallons of water enough to rid my pipes of the dried slime? Would it be cheaper to grab some muratic instead? (Just a note folks, if diluting, ALWAYS add acid to water, NEVER the other way around.)

On the sand bed front I think I might as well go ahead and snag that mixing paddle and buckets and go to town on it. I'm probably going to be here at the new apt. a few years and I don't want to worry about a pocket of H2S nuking the tank if it gets disurbed.

Edit: Maybe I can use one of the trashcans instead. My 32 gallon should be big enough to fit my drain pipes and return plumbing.