First build almost ready: Questions about cleaning & adding sand

[phatduckk]

Hi folks,

I'm slowly getting my Reeefer 350 setup. Like many, I have young kids & a wife so the odds of me having an entire weekend uninterrupted isn't high I have the stand built, did the plumbing, am nearly done building my controller "wall" thing and have my aquascape ready to go.

With all that said - I was thinking I'd like to tackle the sand next and had a few questions for the seasoned folks on here...

1. if I clean my sand using the hose/bucket method, do I need to let it dry out completely before placing it in the tank?
2. related to that; if I get the sand cleaned today, would it be ok to put it in the tank even if I don't plan on adding water till next weekend? in this scenario the tank would just serve as a glorified holding pen for moist sand...

The sand itself is 40lbs of dead CaribSea Special Grade. I have separate 20 lb bag of alive Special grade that I don't plan on cleaning and figured I'd add that on top just before I begin the water fill.

Here's a few pics of tank:

Full tank view
Sorry about the reflection

Left structure
Swim through thing with a nice flat top where I hope to mount corals eventually

Right Structure
This on has a mini cave with a couple ways in and out (2 "hidden" entries around the back & side)

 

[Amboss72]

Nice stack! You’re fine rinsing your sand and then adding it to your tank moist. No need to let it dry out. Also there’s no problem adding it to the tank and waiting a week or so to then add your live sand and water.

 

[Marco S]

Anything I clean out with tap water or water from the hose, I always do a final rinse in RODI water before putting into the tank. That may be my OCD, but I do not want to be introducing any water with measurable amounts of TDS into my tank.

Nice looking tank and scape BTW!

 

[flchamp89]

Nice set up it will be sweet when full of life. Nice scape.

 

[1Tlew0]

As mentioned above - I always rinse with RO as a measure of my own ocd. I’ve gone this route in the past and I’ve never had any issues with my tanks. No need to rush it!

Love the look of the tank and aquascape!

Keep us updated on your build!

Cheers!

 

[phatduckk]

Thanks everyone! Just got done cleaning it with the hose. Took about 2 hours to do 40lbs.

Great suggestion on the final RO rinse. I tried to get rid of as much water as I could; gonna let it sit in the garage for a day, give it a quick RO rinse them plop it into the tank.

Thanks!