Greetings all, this is my first post here and I have a question about the sand I used in my tank (that looked really nice) before I moved. The tank I a tall slim tank that I acquired from a friend. After I changed most of the pipe work to the sump, I decided to buy some nice white sand to make the bottom of the tank look nice for the Cichlid fish I ended up buying. Long story short we moved and as I emptied the tank I noticed a foul smell coming from some old bulk heads that were not being used anymore. They were at the bottom of the tank and had been filled with the sand and probably detritus. I set the tank back up but was reluctant to add the sand as I could only remember the foul smell. The sand was left in our basement for over a month and as it sat there I started to miss the cichlids digging and playing around in it. I’m now halfway through cleaning it with tap water and planning to return some back into tank. I placed air bubblers in the bulk heads and I plan to keep those two corners sand free. As I’m cleaning it I have noticed no bad smell from opening up the tub but I have seen a few snail shells. I read some people use bleach to clean sand I really don’t think bleach and fish sound like a good safe idea no matter how well it’s rinsed so need confirmation if anyone has been down this route before. The sand I’m using is silica or quartz sand I cleaned it really well before putting it in the first time and that took forever, this time I will only add around half of it if it cleans up ok. Thanks for any help be it links to other threads or even a ‘stop being such a dummy!’ and follow these steps message. Don’t go easy on me for being a newbi, I’m thick skinned. Thanks again for reading my thread.