Open bag of live sand?

[TheBig053]

My tank has been up and running for 4.5 months now and over that time I have been slowly losing the depth of my sandbed during the weekly siphoning/vacuuming process.  I still have live sand left over in the bag from when I first set up.  I thought it would have dried out by know but sure enough there is still moisture in the bag.  The bag was not sealed tightly so it have been exposed to air.

 

My question is if I want to replace the sand that has been removed over the past several months, is it safe to use this bag of leftover live sand? Do I simply need to rinse it well or does it need to be cured like live rock that has had die off?  I gave it the sniff test and there was odor coming out of the bag (very scientific, I know!) If I can't simply rinse it before adding to the tank then I will probably just toss it and buy some dry sand to rinse and add. 

[heifinator]

Put the sand in a 5 gallon bucket and rinse using a hose.

Shove the hose in it and move it around, then dump the water off. Do that 20+ times until it runs completely clear.

 

That should take care of most of the dead matter. If you are still worried, add some sand to a bucket with a heater and powerhead (with salt water) then in 48 hours test for ammonia, po4, and nitrates. If it reads zero still you are good to go.

 

Getting the dead matter off isn't really what worries me, the issue would be leaching. The bucket test will determine if that is an issue. 

[RayWhisperer]

Were you not present when you added the "live sand"? I used quotes because that term is nothing short of a lie. The only thing alive in it, was that little packet of bacteria that is hidden in the sand. Even that might be questionable. It's fine, even if it were dry, use it up. Besides, on the off chance there were something in it, your biofilter can handle it.

[schgr.cube]

Agreed with ray, the only reason I even buy some of those "live sand" bags is when I want the mixed substrate look. I bought regular aragonite this time around for a much lower cost. You should be fine to use either way, but rinse if off just to be sure if you are worried. 

[TheBig053]

Bought the sand when I was a total noob so did not know about the "live sand" lie. My main concern was if there was anything living in there, bacterial or otherwise, that adding it just after a rinse my cause a change in parameters. sounds like a good rinse should do the trick. Thanks everyone. 

[Lula_Mae]

I've kinda been wondering this because I bought some Tahitian Moon Sand recently, which has always been a dry product.  It's now a bag of wet sand that has freshwater pics all over it but claims to be safe for salt water too, and since I run picos I was wondering what the heck I'm gonna do with the remains of 20 pounds of wet sand.  Ugh.  The only thing "Tahitian Moon Sand" about it is the label on the back with the barcode.

 

GG CaribSea...