Would use reuse reef rocks and aragonite sand from a freshwater tank ?

Idech · Jul 25, 2021

Garf said:
Did you rinse the sand in tap water then DI? When I say rinse, I mean did you blast all the crud out?, completely?

Yeah, I really blasted it with my garden hose outside. I only had a small quantity to make it easier. I took my time and only stopped once the water was coming out crystal clear. I didn’t rinse in DI because there are no phosphates in my tap water.

Mbunas are really messy fish. And aggressive. You need to have an overstocked tank so they don’t kill each other. So I’m not surprised the sand is still showing 0.5 ppm phosphates after a thorough rinsing.

Oh, and this sand is only 6-8 months old.

DocRose · Jul 25, 2021

Idech said:
Yeah, I really blasted it with my garden hose outside. I only had a small quantity to make it easier. I took my time and only stopped once the water was coming out crystal clear. I didn’t rinse in DI because there are no phosphates in my tap water.

Mbunas are really messy fish. And aggressive. You need to have an overstocked tank so they don’t kill each other. So I’m not surprised the sand is still showing 0.5 ppm phosphates after a thorough rinsing.

Oh, and this sand is only 6-8 months old.

I'm confused about why you felt the sand was unusable with such a low phosphate reading, and also given the fact that you plan to do an extensive cycle. Even if post-cycle you were still getting 0.5 there's steps you can take to fully eliminate it.

Idech · Jul 26, 2021

DocRose said:
I'm confused about why you felt the sand was unusable with such a low phosphate reading, and also given the fact that you plan to do an extensive cycle. Even if post-cycle you were still getting 0.5 there's steps you can take to fully eliminate it.

Well, I’m new at saltwater and I researched acceptable phosphate levels in a reef tank and read from many different experiences that 0.5 ppm was way too much.

I’m sure there are ways to fix this but since I’m starting from scratch and spending a lot of money and taking so much care in planning, this would feel like a setback.

I just want to make my life easier.