First time with sand

[wondabread]

I just picked up another 75g for a steal. I am a huge fan of naturalistic tanks and decided to try sand for the first time.

I picked up 150lbs of play sand and searched the forums for info.

The exact info I am looking for is how to clean it before putting it in the tank. Do I put some in a bucket and just rinse for an hour or so? What exactly am I rinsing out of the sand? Smaller particles or dust?

For those that use sand already, approximately how much sand will cover the bottom of a 75g 2" thick?

From reading old posts I know I am in for a long rinsing process, but I need a little more info on what exactly I am rinsing out and exactly how to rinse it.

Thanks!

 

[Mercury]

Play sand is too fine to actually "clean" I think. When I used play sand in tanks, I put it in the oven for a while to kill anything living in it. But I collected mine from outside. I guess you could put it in a tub or wheel barrow and add water and let the water spill over the side, taking the finest particles with it.

You need to know the dimensions of your tank to determine how much sand you need.

 

[Lakea]

Yes cleaning sand does take awhile and yes you are trying to get rid of the fine particles. Put some in a bucket and stir it up some, the water should look cloudy, that is what you are trying to get rid of. I tilted my bucket so that the water could run out and I just continuously stirred the sand until the water was clear and I could see the sand in the bottom of the bucket. For my 75 g I used like 10 lbs of sand, but I just wanted a thin layer on the bottom.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Yes cleaning sand does take awhile and yes you are trying to get rid of the fine particles. Put some in a bucket and stir it up some, the water should look cloudy, that is what you are trying to get rid of. I tilted my bucket so that the water could run out and I just continuously stirred the sand until the water was clear and I could see the sand in the bottom of the bucket.

I did the same. Basically rinse out the dust, fine particles, and dirt or grass thats in there.

 

[Whiskers]

the easiest way i found to do it is, to fill a 5 gal bucket half way full with water and then pour your sand through it stiring as you go. this way you won't have to stir through a whole bunch of sand. it seem to help get rid of more particals the first time around. then just dump out the water and refill half way and stir some more untill your happy with the clarity of the water in the bucket. i don't know how well the play sand is to work with cause i ues 100% pure silica sand. i got it at manards and its called handy sand (i think). anyway it was only $2.99 for a 50 lb bag. i used the ratio of 1lb of sand to 1gal of water so you should need around 75 lbs for your tank,,,,,give or take a little,,,, it depends on your taste as to how thick you want the sand. i made mine 3" to 4" thick. i won't matter after awhile cause the fish will move it to where they want. when i started my sand was level and flat but the fish dug all sorts of holes and now there isn't one level spot in the tank.

 

[FishGeek]

I do it the way that I believe it was FroggyFox told me. I put all the sand that I wanted into the tank, put about 2 inches of water over the sand and stir the hell out of it. Add more water and stir it again. Then drain as much water out of the tank. Fill the tank up about half way or just a little less and stir and drain again. Do this however much you want and then fill the tank up all the way and drain all the water out. I usually do this like 2-3 times. The water will still be a bit cloudy till everything settles. In a couple of days I do another 50-75% water change and then thats it. Its a lot of work I guess but it saves the bucket idea and makes it easier IMO.

 

[wondabread]

I do it the way that I believe it was FroggyFox told me. I put all the sand that I wanted into the tank, put about 2 inches of water over the sand and stir the hell out of it. Add more water and stir it again. Then drain as much water out of the tank. Fill the tank up about half way or just a little less and stir and drain again. Do this however much you want and then fill the tank up all the way and drain all the water out. I usually do this like 2-3 times. The water will still be a bit cloudy till everything settles. In a couple of days I do another 50-75% water change and then thats it. Its a lot of work I guess but it saves the bucket idea and makes it easier IMO.

This is the way I was going to do it, but I don't want to put all that sand down the drain. Also it isn't a great idea to move a tank this large around since it's so heavy.

I'm going to do the bucket method and dump the excess sand on the patio (since it's sand/gravel anyway).

Thanks guys, I hope this tank turns out how I want it!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Just remember to rinse it a few more times than you think it needs... and if it's not rinsed enough and you make a totally brown tank, a 98% water change will clear it up very quickly.

 

[Lakea]

Just remember to rinse it a few more times than you think it needs... and if it's not rinsed enough and you make a totally brown tank, a 98% water change will clear it up very quickly.

I just wanted to add that even after I had rinsed all the sand and I believed it was clean, when I put it in the tank the tank was cloudy for three days afterwards. Nothing bad, it just wasn't clear. I ran the filter with a fine filter pad and it helped to clear it up, it just wasn't very fast.

So rinsing it a few more times than than you think it needs is probably a good way to go *thumbsups