Weight

[blackdrako3000]

I am needing to move my tank since I am moving houses. I am currently using six bags of CaribSea Bahamas Oolite Arag-Alive! Live Reef Sand (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bahamas-oolite-arag-alive-live-reef-sand.html). I am looking for food grade buckets that can handle the weight of the substrate when still wet. Does anyone know of any? Or does anyone know how much per gallon this would weigh?

[joshky]

How old is the sand? How many inches of sand do those 6 bags equate to in your tank?

Without knowing either of those I'd recommend replacing the sand, it gets nasty and disturbing it all at once can be pretty potent.

I don't think food grade is necessary, any home improvement store 5g bucket should suffice if you decide you're keeping the sand.

[Kenmx10]

1 gallon of sand would be around 10 to 12 lbs.

I would get 3 or 4, 5 gallon buckets from H. Depot with lids. A 5 gallon bucket will hold 70lbs of drywall mud with no problem, so you will be fine with a couple bags of sand per bucket.

[blackdrako3000]

How old is the sand? How many inches of sand do those 6 bags equate to in your tank?

The sand is only about one year old. I am also planning on rinsing it out as if it was brand new before I put it back in the tank.

It equals about a 2" bed. The tank is 48"x18".

I am planning on keeping it just because it is still relatively new, and I don't have the money to buy more. I was thinking food grade just to prevent anything harmful from leaching into the sand during transport.

[joshky]

Depending on your system, simply rinsing it out may be okay. Home improvement store 5g buckets are perfectly O.K., might I be so bold to say A LOT of us use them.

[PhaneSoul]

You can stop by any restaurants and ask for their pickle buckets. Most throw them away, they are good grade, a good rinse and most of all they are free

[dkeller_nc]

In answer to your question about weight, calcium carbonate, whether calcite or aragonite, has a density of about 2.8 times that of water. Not all of a bucket of sand is the actual sand, of course - the volume between the particles is water. Typically, a volume of particles is about 60% solid, and 40% interstitial spaces.

So if you have 5 gallons of wet sand, then the weight will be about:

(8.6 lbs/gal (saltwater density) X 2.8 X 5 gal X 0.6) + (8.6 lbs/gal X 5 gal X 0.4) = 90 lbs.

If the sand's drained (i.e., not covered in water), then the weight of 5 gallons would be about 72 pounds.

[PhaneSoul]

In answer to your question about weight, calcium carbonate, whether calcite or aragonite, has a density of about 2.8 times that of water. Not all of a bucket of sand is the actual sand, of course - the volume between the particles is water. Typically, a volume of particles is about 60% solid, and 40% interstitial spaces.

So if you have 5 gallons of wet sand, then the weight will be about:

(8.6 lbs/gal (saltwater density) X 2.8 X 5 gal X 0.6) + (8.6 lbs/gal X 5 gal X 0.4) = 90 lbs.

If the sand's drained (i.e., not covered in water), then the weight of 5 gallons would be about 72 pounds.


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