Rinsing Sand

[tbrodale]

When I rinse my gravel I use a strainer but the sand particles are much too small for that. How do I rinse the sand?

[skiitswitch]

I'd do the ol' 5 gallon bucket, swish the water/sand around and then dump out as much water asa you can until the water is near-clear

[Matt V]

yup... i just did that last week. it takes a while.
the tank will be cloudy for a couple of days, but it will clear up.

i found that if you rinse smaller amounts and get it swirling pretty good before each water dump, it goes much faster.

[jennigypsy]

...I do exactly what they both said..works like a charm..def. do it in small amounts..you'll be able to get it cleaner

[jonah]

Some people put it in an old pillow case when they rinse it. I've never tried it before though. I added some pool filter sand to one of my tanks the other day and I didn't rinse it at all. I just turned off the filters for an hour while the sand settled. I wouldn't try that with playsand.

[Matt V]

old pillowcase.... good idea! file that under good tips...

[Fischfan13]

Has anyone here used CaribSea's African Cichlid Sand?
It has beneficial bacteria ALREADY in it.
It is packed with the bacteria in some water and all you have to do is pour the wet sand directly into the tank.

I know that some of you like to go to Home Depot or to pool stores to buy sand at cheaper prices, but IMO for a few extra bucks you can get a bag of sand that will basically let you put fish right into the tank and it doesn't have to be washed or rinsed or sifted thru a pillowcase and it settles in less then a minute.

Just my 2 cents.

[tbrodale]

i did 50 lbs at the same time. I used a huge 20 gallon bucket thing and just filled her up with a hose then syphened it out. Not sure how long it took but about an hour. When i put the sand in it was not cloudy after about 9 hours (left it over night). I dumped it in while the tank was full also and there was debri from removing the gravel so I must have rinsed it pretty well. All for under 4 dollars!

[tbrodale]

well for under four bucks. I couldnt even get it shipped for 3 times that much!