How do you dry out used tank sand to save it for reuse?

[Byron]

How?

In case you are not aware of it, your parents pay each month for the electricity they use (or gas if a gas oven), and it is likely not cheap.

 

[Rocky998]

It costs gas (in my case) or electricity to run an oven, hot enough and long enough to dry out sand, and it's expensive. More expensive than using the stovetop. In the UK certainly, power costs have already shot up to levels that have caused a national crisis. No one wants to waste power.

Ohhh ok... Prices would be different all the way across the world.
Here it doesn't take much to fire up the oven

 

[Rocky998]

In case you are not aware of it, your parents pay each month for the electricity they use (or gas if a gas oven), and it is likely not cheap.

Yes it's not "cheap" and I know they pay but it can't cost more than a bag of sand to fire up the stove for a short amount of time right?

 

[Rocky998]

I personally wouldn't use my oven for this... I would probably try using a fire pit instead.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I wouldn't put it in the oven with a food item... But ok

They wouldn't touch It's not like I'd prepare a roast then sprinkle the sand around the chicken and nestle some onions and carrots into it

Yes it's not "cheap" and I know they pay but it can't cost more than a bag of sand to fire up the stove for a short amount of time right?

Bag of this sand cost me around £22. To run the oven hot enough and long enough to dry out 20kgs of sand, and I actually bought another bag so it's around 22kgs, yeah, that would probably cost more than the sand, since you'd still have to spread it out in thin layers and dry many trays worth.

My last flat had a smart meter, so you could see exactly how much power it used, and how much it cost, to run each appliance. You'd be surprised how it mounts up. You'll understand once you have your own place and pay your own bills. Running a clothes dryer is one of the most expensive household appliances, those things suck power and shoot bills higher. Heating and air con also pricy (not that I have air con in the UK, I've just heard about it from US friends), and using the oven costs a lot more in power than just using the stovetop. I literally switched to using more stovetop recipes to minimise our bills, since electricity alone - not even including gas - has exceeded £50 per week now. That's insanely high.

 

[Rocky998]

They wouldn't touch It's not like I'd prepare a roast then sprinkle the sand around the chicken and nestle some onions and carrots into

I mean the fumes and steam from it going onto the food being cooked... Yuck

Bag of this sand cost me around £22. To run the oven hot enough and long enough to dry out 20kgs of sand, and I actually bought another bag so it's around 22kgs, yeah, that would probably cost more than the sand, since you'd still have to spread it out in thin layers and dry many trays worth.

Lol I guess I wasn't thinking about the whole bag, just one tray

 

[StevenF]

Simple after draining as much water out of it as possible place it in warm dry spot. Like a closet in your heated home. It will be dry in a few months. Maybe faster if you sire it up to lift the wet sand to the surface. You don't want to put it in your garage or outdoor shed. These are not heated and dew can collect on the sand under the correct conditions and keep it wet.

 

[ClownLurch]

Stick it on a tray by a south facing window after rinsing maybe?

 

[Alice B]

Well...the cost of firing up an oven to do this would likely far exceed the cost of a bag of sand.

you priced sand lately? Depends on if the oven is electric or gas maybe, but fuel governs prices on sand and rock have jumped. I go with Texas sunshine, we're in a drought, I have the bucket of sand from the tank with the mollies siting out on a chair, 2 or 3 inch layer, but it won't go back into any tank, I still don't know what was wrong with the mollies. I'll use it to mix sempervivum soil or sand down furniture

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

k

 

[WhistlingBadger]

OK, Adora, here's how you do it.

1. Move to Wyoming, preferably in the summer. We have this thing called sunshine here. And dry air. I don't have time to explain what those are for our UK people; you'll have to google it.
2. Spread out an old bed sheet or something similar, put it in a sunny spot, and spread out your sand so it's an inch or so thick.
3. Wait about ten minutes*. Dry as a bone!

*Jokes. It would probably take a day or two.

 

[itiwhetu]

Just put it in a bucket and then put it in the new tank, rinse it under a garden hose if you must.

 

[Lynnzer]

I want to know if others also have ideas... I still am not sure if I'll be using the sand from this tank in the new one...

I have dried a lot of sand/substrate lately.
It all depends on how much you have but a typical amount from my own 120ltr tank is only a few pounds in weight.
I put it in a container and microwave it. Not only does it dry the stuff, it also kills any potentially dangerous bacteria thay may survive from natural drying.
I also microwave wooden tank scaping to kill off algae if the build up gets way too high. I can't/won't bleach wood or even some rocks that are porous as bleach will be hard to wash out.

 

[GaryE]

Take it out, grain by grain, and using a small dish towel, dry it. With good music, it will be a pleasant six months of work.

Spread it all over the house, on the floor and run around flapping fabric wings.

Or do what I do - stick it in a bucket and rinse it as you need it. That's not as fun to visualize as these other ideas.

Build a prehistoric style clay kiln out back, and roast it?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

In the old days (1960s) when I was a kid, the recommendation was to spread out on a tray and bake at 300 degrees or so. All bacterial growth will be decimated, good or bad depending on your view.

This is what I did when I used to use gravel and dry it out.

No suggestions on sand though.