New CaribSea Hawaiian black sand, to rinse prior or not.

[mapleredta]

It's supposedly 'live' sand but I have always heard and been told to rinse the new sand until the water is clear. What says you?

 

[acroholic]

I didn't. Minimal to no cloudiness from it IME. Got it in all three reef tanks. Open and dump...I also never used those packets of clearing liquid they include. I assume it is a flocculant.

 

[mapleredta]

Clearly I've been told wrong. Thanks Dave.

 

[acroholic]

The live Caribsea stuff is pre-rinsed. I think it says so on the bag somewhere. Their dry substrates definitely need pre-rinsing. You'll notice CaribSea dry substrates are considerably less in price, I assume from the pre-rinsing step not being there.

 

[smallblock]

Dave what all makes this stuff Live? Is it bacteria that in it?

 

[acroholic]

Smallblock;646201 wrote: Dave what all makes this stuff Live? Is it bacteria that in it?

Yea, it is supposed to be packaged with bacteria in it. The sales pitch is that it shortens the cycle time of the tank by being pre-seeded. I think it has a use by date on it as well. I wouldn't rely on it. The only reason I wouldn't buy Hawaiian Black in dry form and rinse it is that they don't sell it like that. Only in pre-rinsed with the bacteria.

 

[smallblock]

thanks Dave, I hope it works well for him bacteria wise, he doesnt have room for a fuge right now and hasnt been running sand for a couple of months I think.

 

[morganatlanta]

Unless Dave is really sure it won't crap up your tank, I'd rinse it. You've got plenty of bacteria in your rock already or you would be having other problems.

 

[crewdawg1981]

I think you'd be fine as long as you dont add it all at once. A cup or two every other day for a bit and you should be fine.

 

[hnguyen]

I used this sand on my 60 cube and 93 cube right now. I didn't rinse it either, just cut open the bag and dumped it in. It was KINDA cloudy for about half an hour and my water went clear after that. I used it when I transfered everything from the 60 to my 93. I used everything over except for the sand. I used 60lb of new sand for the 93 and I didn't rinse that either. I had no ill affects from it and everything looks healthy right and it's been about a month after the transfer.

 

[crewdawg1981]

The only reason I say to add it slowly is that you have a full tank already. If you were starting with an empty tank I'd say throw it all in. Dumping it in now is going to create a MASSIVE sand storm. I'm a fan of a few cups a day. But... thats just me.

 

[mapleredta]

I thought about cutting the top off a two liter and using a piece of pvc pipe to not make a mess.

 

[tgriffin]

Eric B told me a good way to put it in. It worked great!!! 1 1/4 pvc pipe with a cut off funnel. Absolutely no cloudiness at all. I really like the way the HB looks

 

[merkywater]

I have it in my 150 and didn't rinse either. No problems...and minimal clouding. It is live substrate why would you rinse live substrate the whole purpose in buying live. Understand rinsing if dry.