Re-use sand?

[choss]

Ok - I know this is probably a very old topic and most will say "toss the old sand and buy new sand". I'm temporarily breaking down a tank with around 50 lbs of beautiful and relatively clean mesoflakes sand. As I'm removing the sand I'm rinsing some detritus out, and using some of it in my temporary storage tanks. However, I'll probably have 25 lbs left sitting in a bucket. Is it as easy as storing it, then letting it sit in bleach for some time, then rinsing and reusing? Or is this likely to be risking adding to a new tank in the future.

Looking forward to your opinions and advice.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Ok - I know this is probably a very old topic and most will say "toss the old sand and buy new sand". I'm temporarily breaking down a tank with around 50 lbs of beautiful and relatively clean mesoflakes sand. As I'm removing the sand I'm rinsing some detritus out, and using some of it in my temporary storage tanks. However, I'll probably have 25 lbs left sitting in a bucket. Is it as easy as storing it, then letting it sit in bleach for some time, then rinsing and reusing? Or is this likely to be risking adding to a new tank in the future.

Looking forward to your opinions and advice.

Rinse it very well with RO/DI water, let it dry out, and then store it in your bucket. Before you go to use it again, rinse it again just for safe measure ;)

 

[choss]

so no bleach? I guess I'm concerned about die off and some critters that live in the sand that survive the rinse but then not storage of course. But I will go with this as step 1 for sure. Thanks as always Crabs

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

no bleach! rinse and store!

 

[cracker]

No need to dump it . Rinse it real real good dry completely & store it in the buckets . It will be fine .

 

[choss]

done and done!

 

[sghera64]

done and done!

Rest assured. What you are doing is better than much of the “dry rock” we used to put into our tanks in the 1990’s. It was dry harvested from ancient “raised reefs”. Simply, it was live rock that sat above sea level after the ice caps grew and oceans sank. Then, someone harvested it (with a crane), dumped it on a barge and shipped it a FL airport. We bought it, rinsed it and put it into our aquariums.

As least your sand was “conditioned” in a reef tank. I have two buckets of sand that I rinsed and have stored for 15 years. I occasionally remove some of the talc fine sand in my reef tank and swap in the old dry sand (which I do not rinse before dumping in). No prob.