? about sand

[drewby9]

hello i have old sand that was once used in a freshwater tank...i was wondering if it can be cleaned and mixed with some live sand i have now to save on some cost....if so how do i go about cleaning sand?

 

[Lorna]

I wouldn't the sand used in freshwater is not necessarily the same as that used in marine tanks. The optimum sand used in marine tanks should be aragonite which is composed of calcium carbonate not silca as most sand that you buy. Some people use silca based sand such as playsand but it may lead to increased diatom blooms etc. though the jury is still out on that. I would buy calcium aragonite sand from the lfs but don't get hooked into paying for the live sand....just buy the dry stuff in the bags and try to get it all the same size such as sugar fine oolite or reef sand. Do yourself a favour and stay away from crushed coral as it can become a nitrate trap further down the road

 

[drewby9]

well the used sand is from a lfs is aquarium sand...it has just been used in a freshwater tank

 

[Joe Fish]

You can use bleech to clean the sand, but make sure to rinse it good and let it dry out in the sun.

 

[Lorna]

I still wouldn't use it. You have no idea if the aquarium it was in was ever treated with copper. Even if it did come from an lfs do you know if it is silca or calcium? You would need to do the vinegar test, even then I don't think I would tempt it.

 

[wayne]

The jusry is not out on clean silica sand - it does not dissolve , nor cause diatom blooms, else we could all throw our glass tanks away. The silicate in diatom skeletons is normally present in water by solution of silicATE minerals. FWIW the buffering capacity of CaCO3 sand in marine aquaria is trivial as the pH is too high to dissolve the stuff significantly.
However I still wouldn't do it as recycling sand involves tons and tons of washing, and it's always filthy at the end anyway......

 

[TRe]

id take lorna's advice and be safer than sorry ....

 

[Lorna]

I stand corrected by Wayne......a worthy correction too!

Thanks Wayne, glad to see you back on here. Regardless I wouldn't bother with old sand, as stated, it is a dirty mess and I wouldn't spend the time necessary to wash and wash and rinse and rinse it........a true mess

 

[Joe Fish]

Interesting Wayne. I agee, it is quite a bit of work.

 

[Lotus]

I'd just spend the $20 or $30 on some oolitic aragonite and save myself the trouble of washing the FW sand.