Should I get the sand ready?

[darren24]

New set up will be here in a few weeks. I will be using some of my old sand along with about 100 lbs of "new" sand. Should I go ahead and get the new sand, rinse it, put a little old sand in with it, and place it in a large tub with a heater and powerhead and let it sit until the new tank is set up? Just thinking it may reduce any cycle I may get.

Thanks.

 

[seedless reefer]

If you are using live sand don't rinse it.

If you are using playground sand a little rinse wouldn't hurt.

I have mixed old and new sand with no ill effects and I have changed a portion of my sand in the tank with no ill effects.

I am a firm believer that the fastest way to get sand to be productive is to innoculate it with the old sand.

But here, if you ask a question you will get 100 different answers. There are a bijjilion ways to get to the same results it appears.

 

[darren24]

Thanks. To be more specific I am ordering some Aragonite Seaflor Special Grade sand. I will use this "new" sand along with some of my existing sand to make the sand bed for the new tank. Last upgrade I took the top inch or so of my "old" sand and placed it in with the new sand with no problems. This time since I have a few weeks before the new tank is ready I thought it may be a good idea to go ahead and rinse the "new" sand to get rid of the dust that comes with it and go ahead and seed it with the old sand. That way when it comes time to transfer from the old tank to new the sand will be aged a little.

 

[darren24]

Hey thanks Barbara. Yes I plan to use the LR from my current set up and as much water from it as well.

 

[george]

Daren, if the "new" sand is the sand you got from me, it's washed, but I wouldn't count on it being 100% free of potential "old goop" from my setup. Its been in those buckets in my garage for over a year, though.

Also, the water its in is RO/tap, so be sure and stir it around with some fresh saltwater and check the salinity and other paramters. I rinsed it in tap several times and then a final thorough two rinses in RO, so it should be fairly clean, but the water in there could drop your salinity, depending on the tank volume.

 

[darren24]

Hey thanks George. No the sand I was referring to was going to be new sand that I had planned on ordering before I saw your post. Thanks again for the sand!

 

[FutureInterest]

I would wash the heck out of any sand regardless if its "live" or not. I would advise you to get it dry and "dead" anyways cause that whole "live" sand thing is a borderline scam imo .

I really don't think it would negate your cycle time significantly. Bacteria grows ver quickly at an exponential rate. So much so that going through the hassle now just doesn't seem to have much upside imo.