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Cultivated Reef

Rinsing Sand Questions and etc


potatocouch

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Do you rinse your sand?


Live or non-Live Sand, does it matter, in terms of washing it and rinsing it before it goes to the tank?


So rules of thumbs are:

1. Switch off all return pump and wave makers and skimmers .. practically switch off everything?


2. Place it using containers / bag or PVC pipe or whatever.


My next question: how long until I switch these equipments back on? When should I know when to switch them back on?

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I rinse my sand (not live) in a 5 gallon bucket. I try to stick the hose as far into the sand as it will go and let it run, I will dump the water, stir, and continue to rinse until it basically goes from milky white to clear. I drain off any water and use a cup to scoop and place in my tank, then fill. I don't usually add sand when the tank is full already, but I have dropped a cup or two in there without any issues.

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The better you rinse it, the lest dust and possible contaminants you will have. Any surface or soluble contaminants will be washed off and won't end up in your tank. Once you put your sand in, give it a few minutes to settle and then turn everything back on. Make sure you have some sort of mechanical filtration to pull all of those super-fines out. A filter sock, floss, sponge, and even skimmers will work.

 

Any sand, including live sand, should be rinsed. Live sand should just be rinsed using SW.

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I would kick your return flow on when you are done adding sand and let your filter media pull all the junk out of the water... I would leave wave makers and skimmers off until the dust has sebbtled. You will also find that you will probably need to clean the filter media a few times during the process -the removal of said media will probably cause the water to go cloudy again... It's ok just keep repeating the process.

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