Cleaning Sand

[menacer]

I have just brought 15kg of Argos play sand, Do i need to remove my fish before adding it? Does it need cleaning? Its says that its clean. Thanks for your replies in advance

{}--{MeNaCeR}

 

[fluttermoth]

It's clean enough for kids to play in, but not clean enough for a tank!

Put some (a smaller amount is easier to do) in a bucket. Either push the end of a hose into it, or put it under a tap (an outside tap is better). Fill the bucket up with water, stirring the sand while you do so, either with your hand or a wooden spoon or something. Pour the water with all the dust and lighter particles away, then do it again, and again, until the water runs clear.

After you think it's done, give it another couple or rinses; its much, much easier to 'over wash' it in the bucket than it is to get it in your tank and wish you'd washed it a bit more

 

[Shaddex]

Rinse thoroughly before adding to tank.

 

[mattbleasby]

You have too wash the sand. Dont make the same mistake many have done before. I use argos playsand in my tanks, and in my experience it contained alot of muck.

Get it in a bucket. Fill with water. Stir the sand then pour the water out fast. This way the sand will stay in the bucket but the dirt wont, Keep doing this untill it runs clear then do it again as said above.

If you bang it straight in your tank you will end up having to empty it again.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It's actually pretty simple. Fill the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket - about 1 gallon's worth of sand. Put a garden hose into it, and while it's filling, just keep swirling around the sand. The larger bits will sink faster and the lighter bits (dust, etc.) will stay in the water column for longer. Pour out the top water, and repeat. Do this until the water is running out clear. (One step that I took that I believe greatly helped me clean the sand quickly was to pour the sand into the bucket from a height of about 4 feet, with a slight wind blowing. The wind blew a lot of the dust around before it ever even got to the bucket - again the larger bits will fall into the bucket while the lighter bits will be pushed aside by the wind.)

I just added sand to my tank (picture in sig) a few days ago and each gallon of sand only took about 10-15 minutes of swishing - maybe a little less. I also left the tank full of water when I filled it, but poured the sand into place slowly with a small pitcher. This allowed the sand to take a more natural looking place in the tank, and I could easily adjust how much sand was being added to any given spot. This clouded up the water a bit at the end (primarily, because I added large rocks after a while and used the sand to hold them in place, and I was dropping the sand from a much higher distance). The water cleared up by morning (I did rinse out some floss in my filter after about 2 hours, and again in the morning and once more by the following afternoon).

 

[menacer]

Ok thanks folks off to clean it now! you guys rule on here learnt so much already and still so much to learn!

 

[menacer]

Do i need to remove the fish though?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've seen discussions go both ways on this. It might be a little less stressful for the fish to remove them, but if you can't catch them quickly, then it might just be easier to do it with them in there (CAREFULLY, of course).


With your substrate being so new, I doubt there will be a huge amount of detritus buildup in the gravel. I put the sand into my tank while the tank was full and with the filter running (which is counter to what many folks would recommend) and it went really smooth! I poured the sand in very slowly from a quart pitcher exactly where I wanted it, from very low height above the level I was placing it. It clouded the water up slightly... (I'll upload pics) But it was crystal clear again in under 12 hours. I used some added floss to my filter and just rinsed it out twice to remove any leftover sediment build-up in there. It went really well.


Right after adding the sand.

The next morning.

 

[menacer]

Hmm just spent 20 mins doing one bucket and i have seen no change in the water its just as murky when i swirl it with the spoon

That looks good mate, i have nothing to add to my filter though

 

[This Old Spouse]

I usually put about a gallon of sand in a 5g bucket, then put the hose or tap in, turn it on full and tip the bucket slightly. Just keep pouring in the water while you stir it around and most of the murky stuff should rinse out within a few minutes. But you need to keep the water running for it to rinse out.

When I put it in my tank, I put the sand in first, then put a dinner plate on it, then pour water on the plate. When the tank is full, remove the plate.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hmm just spent 20 mins doing one bucket and i have seen no change in the water its just as murky when i swirl it with the spoon

That looks good mate, i have nothing to add to my filter though

My test was this: I did it until I thought it was good enough. Then, I poured all the water out (I lost a bit of sand with that too... no big deal). Then I put the hose back in, until the water is above the level of the sand, a few inches. Then let the water sit for a minute or two. If it clears up, then you should be fine.

 

[menacer]

Ok all done thanks for your help i have lost 2 lamp eye that jumped out of the bucket whilst i was getting a lid for it r.i.p little ones

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[menacer]

Thanks buddy, im seriously gutted i feel like a murderer i should have got a lid before i took them out

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Unforutately, you need to just chalk it up as a learning experience. The fish made their choice. Sure, it could have been avoided, but it isn't like you neglected to put water in the bucket first. They chose to jump out. Lesson learned, right? Sometimes the hardest lesson are the ones learned best. I bet you'll never do that again, and your future fish will thank you for it. The pioneers generally pay a steep price, but all those who follow will benefit from their sacrifice.