View Full Version : Reusing Live Sand Question
addonnis242
07/23/2010, 06:34 AM
I am in the midst of upgrading my 120 to a 215 with all the money I have spent on other things I'm trying to cut some costs. Therefore I am considering using the live sand out of my 120 but I want to kill anything in it first. I am basically starting the 215 from scratch, only thing staying from the 120 is my pair of clowns all other fish, live rock, etc are going so I can basically start over.
My question is; if I pull all the live sand out and let it dry completely how long would it take for it to be completely clear of any pests?
I had some vermitid snails in my 120 and I do not want to transfer them to the 215 I have no idea how they reproduce but I want any and everything in the sand dead before I put it in the 215. I will then mix in a few pounds of live sand from the LFS and add some bacteria additives and let nature take its course.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
rinse it all out in fresh water with the garden hose in a 5 gallon bucket. you can do 2 gallons of sand at a time and it will be like new when your done.
Or you do what i did and put 3" in the new tank and fill it up with the garden hose and dig through the sand and float up all the junk and syphon it all out. Topped off the sand with another 3" and did the same thing thne seeded with 2 gallons old sand
addonnis242
07/24/2010, 06:42 PM
I am assuming the fresh water will kill everything, is that correct. I'm just trying to kill any of the pests that may be in the sand. I really don't want to transfer any vermitid snails to my new set up.
flyyyguy
07/24/2010, 07:16 PM
simple answer
dont do it. really. You are going to live with this new tank for quite soem time and the LAST thing you want to do is use a bunch of dirty sand to start it up. I havent used sand for years, but I still recall the time I did just that.....and it was a mistake I would never do over again
pests aside, its the phosphates that will kill you and no amount of rinsing is going to fix it
I am assuming the fresh water will kill everything, is that correct. I'm just trying to kill any of the pests that may be in the sand. I really don't want to transfer any vermitid snails to my new set up.
yes the fresh water will kill everything, soak it in 5 gallon buckets for 2 days and the snails should be dead in 1 day
flyyyguy
the phos is not bound up in the sand, most of the phos is in the detritus that builds up after 5 years or so. rinsing it removes the phos laiden junk
sand is the same as LR but I wont be throwing any of my 20 year old rock out. it gets rinsed in saltwater every 5 years or so when i work on the sandbed
flyyyguy
07/24/2010, 07:37 PM
You can cook your rock to rid built up phosphates. While you are correct that the bulk of it will be rinsed out of sand, The bulk of it isnt enough. It will remain bound up in the sand and its a bad idea. When you have the opportunity to start fresh, take it.
jmho
addonnis242
07/24/2010, 07:51 PM
Ahhhh, what to do what to do. I really want to save some money here and could take my time rinsing it out as you described Outy. So the pest issue is definitley solved via rinsing. Outy how sure are you that the bulk of the phosphate is not bound up in the sand?
And now that I really think about it, what would the difference be if I rinsed vs bought new? The companies packaging the sand are getting it from somewhere right? wouldn't there be the same contaminants in the packaged stuff before they rinsed and packaged it? Just a thought I guess.
I just really don't want to screw my new tank up.
flyyyguy
07/24/2010, 07:56 PM
And now that I really think about it, what would the difference be if I rinsed vs bought new? .
now...to be sure, if you WERE to buy new sand, I woudl suggest new dry dead sand....not live. That stuff is a waste of money. The sand will become live soon enough on its own and it will be a fresher cleaner start. It is also cheaper to buy dry/dead
illal
07/24/2010, 08:03 PM
toss it!
Ahhhh, what to do what to do. I really want to save some money here and could take my time rinsing it out as you described Outy. So the pest issue is definitley solved via rinsing. Outy how sure are you that the bulk of the phosphate is not bound up in the sand?
And now that I really think about it, what would the difference be if I rinsed vs bought new? The companies packaging the sand are getting it from somewhere right? wouldn't there be the same contaminants in the packaged stuff before they rinsed and packaged it? Just a thought I guess.
I just really don't want to screw my new tank up.
if you dont have a phos issue then your sand is not laiden with phos. how do I know?? have you ever cleaned sand after a year, a ton of nasty stuff comes out, its all phos laiden material and theres huge amounts.
many people over the years have rinsed and reused sand with no ill effects, not once has someone complained of phos issues from well rinsed sand.
think about this, you add phos to your tank with food plus the fish waist there is always phos being proccessed even with 5 year old sand my tank still test 0 for phos and even my chaeto grows at a snails pace even under 150w mh lighting. not enough phos comes off the sand to be a problem and it would be far less then the food you add daily. once you wash it the phos leaching out would be almost nothing.
PaulB I believe has had has gravel bed over 20 years and its still not a phos issue
if i lived back east or around the coast where sand is cheap i would replace it but here in Ca it averages almost a buck a pound and i need about 400lbs of sand so ill be rinsing lol as i have successfully in the past
addonnis242
07/24/2010, 08:11 PM
Alright I need a break from thinking about the sand. In the mean time what do you guys think of my rock scape. I can't change much cause its been puttied and zip tied together pretty good.
BTW only one the left side to just beyond the mid point is done. Waiting on the rest of my rock to finish.
Front:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z130/addonnis242/58bea7d7.jpg
Angled Left to Right:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z130/addonnis242/3d9e53d8.jpg
Top Down:
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z130/addonnis242/dd51674a.jpg
looking good, i like my 215 and it should be full of water tonight lol
I never get carried away with rock work because of all the coral its hard to see anyway. in 2 years my rock will all be gone lol
on a side note how old is the sand on your 120?
addonnis242
07/24/2010, 08:23 PM
The sand in the 120 is around 2 years old, probably 4" depth. Its the Ocean Direct fine stuff, I didn't want to reuse it because I wanted to go to the seafloor special grade. But man between the tank, Reeflo Orca 250, LED componenet I'm trying to buy, etc funds are starting to run thin.
NTM I thought I had planned out enough space for everything and of course I don't have enough room under the stand to fit my Dart return pump so now I'm looking to get an Octopus water blaster HY10000.
your sand after 2 years wont be phos laiden, generaly speaking DSB has a 5 years shelf life with no cleaning.
I just mixed 160lbs of marcos fine sand with about 300lbs of used sand I rinsed that was only used for 3 months. this used sand was coarse, with marcos sand mixed in its a sweet little blend.
addonnis242
07/24/2010, 08:37 PM
Well thats encouraging, thanks for all the input Outy and you as well Flyyguy.
ctreefer
07/24/2010, 09:11 PM
Just be aware that rinsing that much sand is going to take a good deal of time and effort. I just got finished rinsing about 100lbs of sand that was "fairly" clean and it was a PIA. I ended up dumping the last 30 or so lbs just because I was so tired of rinsing it. Mind you I probably rinsed the hell out of it to the point that with constant hand mixing there was still clear water which was when it was time to add another 5lbs or so to the bucket and do all over again. My back was killing me after 3 days of this. My guess is its about as clean as what you would buy new in a bag dry.
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