Mark Novack
Well-Known Member
Hello,
In a few days I'll be putting 8 bags of Caribsea Special Grade 1-2mm live sand into the aquarium. Last time I used a smaller grade from Caribsea and I emptied the bags directly into the aquarium. I spent three weeks cleaning up the tank and then pulled the plumbing and sump to get the mud out. I did not gain a minute of cycle time but I did get a work out. I saved an hour of rinsing work and cost myself weeks of labor. Its like leaving the dealer's car lot with a new car and being rear ended at the first stop light.
At the very least, put the sand in a bucket of tank water and see what you have before you put it in. If you think its clean enough, throw it in water and all and you will lose nothing. If you see what I had in my tank the first time around, you will be very glad that you have the chance to avoid a silt and mud storm of incredible proportions. If that rinse water is important to you, the mud will settle quickly and you can skim off the water than may have viable bacterias to put back into the tank. Its 100 times harder to get out of the tank than it is to pour off the silt into a holding container for 20 minutes.
Lastly, why did I buy live sand just to rinse it? Because it is the only 1-2mm grade sand available in this country and I wanted 1-2mm sand, not 0.5-1.2mm or 2-3mm or sugar grain size. Plus, normally bacteria is growing on the sand. Its all about size and wanting the sand to stay where I want while still being fine enough for sand dwelling invertebrate life. Whatever bacterias are viable on the sand are welcome to stay and reproduce but not the silt.
Mark
In a few days I'll be putting 8 bags of Caribsea Special Grade 1-2mm live sand into the aquarium. Last time I used a smaller grade from Caribsea and I emptied the bags directly into the aquarium. I spent three weeks cleaning up the tank and then pulled the plumbing and sump to get the mud out. I did not gain a minute of cycle time but I did get a work out. I saved an hour of rinsing work and cost myself weeks of labor. Its like leaving the dealer's car lot with a new car and being rear ended at the first stop light.
At the very least, put the sand in a bucket of tank water and see what you have before you put it in. If you think its clean enough, throw it in water and all and you will lose nothing. If you see what I had in my tank the first time around, you will be very glad that you have the chance to avoid a silt and mud storm of incredible proportions. If that rinse water is important to you, the mud will settle quickly and you can skim off the water than may have viable bacterias to put back into the tank. Its 100 times harder to get out of the tank than it is to pour off the silt into a holding container for 20 minutes.
Lastly, why did I buy live sand just to rinse it? Because it is the only 1-2mm grade sand available in this country and I wanted 1-2mm sand, not 0.5-1.2mm or 2-3mm or sugar grain size. Plus, normally bacteria is growing on the sand. Its all about size and wanting the sand to stay where I want while still being fine enough for sand dwelling invertebrate life. Whatever bacterias are viable on the sand are welcome to stay and reproduce but not the silt.
Mark
