Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

[Besieged]

I've found this thread right on time, thanks @brandon429 for putting all this together. Amazing work!

I have a 30 gallon tank which I'll be taking apart to re-do the plumbing and aquascape. I will for sure be cleaning the sand as you mentioned. I was religiously told to not use the old but now I understand why. I had a question about bacteria dio-off from washing the sand in tap water with has chlorine in it. My initial thought was that before the last rince with RO water, to do one last rince with a water primer to neutralize any chlorine left. Would you say this is ok to do or skip it?

As for the 20 or so pounds of marco rocks in the tank. Should I clean them with a brush in tank salt water before plating it back in the DT, and will you suggest using Dr Tim one and only to seed the tank a bit more or will the 20 pounds of live rock and porous media in the sump be enough?

The RO wash should purge any last remaining chlorine.

If you're really worried about it, during your RO rinse add 10mg crushed/powdered ascorbic acid (i.e. Vitamin C) per gallon of water, which will safely breakdown chlorine without harming anything else whatsoever.

Personally, if you're looking to keep your biodiversity, etc., I wouldn't scrub the rocks unless they're badly covered in algae or some other nuisance. Otherwise, I would just put them in a bucket with tank water and shake a bit just to remove any loose detritus.

As for Dr Tim's, why? As long as you keep the filter media from the old tank submerged, THAT is where the vast majority of your nitrifying bacteria will be.

Just don't change the filters. Rinse them gently in tank water if you need to shake off any excess schmutz, then keep them wet. If there's not going to be any fish in the system for some time (for whatever reason) then you might want some ammonium chloride to add in small amounts to help keep the bacteria fed, but otherwise, yeah that chunk of liverock and filter media in your sump will be plenty enough to keep the cycle going.

 

[brandon429]

Well said above Beseiged

that advice is in line with our unique handling methods on file


Agreed we are keeping bottle bac use away from here by design. It's so we retrain to view bacteria the correct way: we have plenty, even after rip cleaning, on the rocks and that's enough for every system even if we're removing some of the original rocks from the finished product arrangement.

Media down low will help for sure but that's a delayed area for wastewater contact compared to active surfaces in the display right where waste is produced.

It's by far more important to rinse well and be cloud free in all ventures than to add things. Ironically, we made these systems safer by removing bacteria vs adding some. That helps us practice being $ independent from bottle bac sales unless we're in a rush to upcycle a brand new dry start tank.

 

[klvnnunez]

The RO wash should purge any last remaining chlorine.

If you're really worried about it, during your RO rinse add 10mg crushed/powdered ascorbic acid (i.e. Vitamin C) per gallon of water, which will safely breakdown chlorine without harming anything else whatsoever.

Personally, if you're looking to keep your biodiversity, etc., I wouldn't scrub the rocks unless they're badly covered in algae or some other nuisance. Otherwise, I would just put them in a bucket with tank water and shake a bit just to remove any loose detritus.

As for Dr Tim's, why? As long as you keep the filter media from the old tank submerged, THAT is where the vast majority of your nitrifying bacteria will be.

Just don't change the filters. Rinse them gently in tank water if you need to shake off any excess schmutz, then keep them wet. If there's not going to be any fish in the system for some time (for whatever reason) then you might want some ammonium chloride to add in small amounts to help keep the bacteria fed, but otherwise, yeah that chunk of liverock and filter media in your sump will be plenty enough to keep the cycle going.

Amazing, thank you.

 

[KimNotKardashian]

I have everything almost setup to start this method on my 40gal. All my coral is dead and I just have 2 clowns and 2 hermits.

Like suggested, I took one rock out and cleaned it and placed it back in last week. I put 4 drops of peroxide on the rock and out came a couple of flatworms.

I am trying this method due to aptasia, bubble, gha, and now I guess flatworms.

When I take my fish out, should I put some kind of flatworm treatment in so the adults die off in a tank I am about to drain anyway? I don’t know a lot about the chemicals or types of treatment.

 

[ScottJ]

You can look up the ins and outs of Flatworm Exit, I think it's Salfert brand. It's good stuff, but you need to use it correctly.

Why not start a new thread about the troubles you are having? People will be able to help you out, I'm sure

This thread seems to be pretty inactive, and sadly, Brandon has been MIA for months.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

About to fulfill a massive fantasy for @brandon429 …huge rip clean/sand rinse project on my 180g classroom reef.

The whole thing is ripped up. Going to save all the sand.

You can follow it here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...th-everything-i-did’-180g-mixed-reef.1027719/

 

[neilsarah]

This thread has me intrigued. One question i have. My plan is to pull off this method in my 180 gallon with new rinsed sand. Is it possible to have the sand rinsed well ahead of removing the old sand? Say i buy the new sand now and rinse as instructed and leave to dry in 5 gallon buckets. Does this achieve the same results as putting wet sand back in? If i remember correctly i have 150 lbs of sand in my tank so i need to plan this out well ahead of time. I am thinking if i have the sand all pre rinsed ahead of time it could save me a lot of time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What sort of sand are you planning to use?

I’d certainly rinse dead sand very well, live sand maybe not, and ocean sand, such as from TBS not at all.

 

[neilsarah]

What sort of sand are you planning to use?

I’d certainly rinse dead sand very well, live sand maybe not, and ocean sand, such as from TBS not at all.

Randy. I plan on using dead sand. My tank is roughly 4 years old and i am not happy with the substrate. My biggest question is if rinsing way in advance is ok? If it dries out after rinsing will it still not cloud up my water when i swap it with the old sand? I live in Michigan and plan on this being a winter project. However i would want to rinse it outside while its still warm out.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy. I plan on using dead sand. My tank is roughly 4 years old and i am not happy with the substrate. My biggest question is if rinsing way in advance is ok? If it dries out after rinsing will it still not cloud up my water when i swap it with the old sand? I live in Michigan and plan on this being a winter project. However i would want to rinse it outside while its still warm out.

The rinsing may depend on the sand, but the idea is to reduce the number of fines that will cloud the water. Hoping to entirely eliminate clouding is unlikely to be fruitful, especially if it is fine oolitic aragonite.

I cannot see a drawback to rinsing dead sand any time before use, unless you massively shake it up again and grind down the particles.