# best way to clean new sand?



## chriswagner (Dec 8, 2013)

Just trying to end a "discussion" between my wife and I. I'm setting up a 125 gallon and I am putting in new sand. I want to wash it, but my wife doesn't think it's a good idea to rinse it in my gravel rinsing bucket. I know I will lose some sand through the small holes but I bought 200 lbs so I think we can afford to lose a bit of sand. Is this the best way to do this?


----------



## workharddieproud (Nov 7, 2013)

I have a 125g and changed all the gravel rock to white sand, which I love much better. I had purchased around 60lbs for mine and that filled it up just right for me. You need to rinse it in a strainer with a bucket or something underneath to catch the loose sand, but RINSE ABOUT 5LBS AT A TIME, I used my kitchen sink sprayer and used ALL HOT WATER and rinse at least 4 times per 5lbs, if you don't, depending on your sand, it could make your water dirty or milky for days. Take your time.


----------



## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

I put sand in a 5 gallon bucket in my utility sink. I use one of these attached to my utility sink, and rinse it all by spinning the bucket with the hose submerged in the sand. I put my finger on it to create a strong spray pattern and also swish it all around with my hand.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Specialt ... arden+hose


----------



## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

agree with spotmonster. after swishing around the sand will resettle on bottom and u can dump water out losing minimal sand. i have also rinsed sand in an old pillow case. its works well also


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I run the hose in the 5G bucket (maybe 1/3 full of sand) for 15 minutes. The debris overflows out over the top of the bucket leaving the sand in the bottom. After 15 minutes with PFS it runs clear.


----------



## Woundedyak (Oct 19, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> I run the hose in the 5G bucket (maybe 1/3 full of sand) for 15 minutes. The debris overflows out over the top of the bucket leaving the sand in the bottom. After 15 minutes with PFS it runs clear.


That's what I do. Works like a champ everytime


----------



## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> I run the hose in the 5G bucket (maybe 1/3 full of sand) for 15 minutes.


I use a similar strategy, but incorporate moving the hose around continually and dumping the excess dirty water as needed. You can expedite the process quite a bit with a little elbow grease.


----------



## chriswagner (Dec 8, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice. I used the bucket method and swished the sand around quite a bit. I spent the whole day yesterday setting up my new tank, thank god I got it all done in a relatively smooth fashion. Bit as for the sand, the water was slightly cloudy when I first filled it but after I got my filters going it started to clear, when I woke up this morning it was ALMOST completely clear. I'm hoping when I get home tonight it'll be crystal. Thanks for the help, I needed it!


----------



## Phaisius (Feb 10, 2014)

I use a completely different technique which is similar to the vacuum siphon but i just use a 13ml hose and siphon up all the waste on the bottom then push the sand around and all the under waste will float up. Let it settle, then siphon again and keep doing it till the sand looks brand new and your getting the under waste as well. you can do this three or four times depending on how dirty your tank is but this works well for me and i only do this procedure once every water change. I don't have many fish in my 410L so waste is not that bad.

Allot easy then getting all the sand out and cleaning it manually, all the work involved and aslo the stress on you fish.


----------



## BillD (May 17, 2005)

The key to cleaning sand is to do small quantities at a time. When you stir sand to get the fines out, you end up stirring the fines back into the sand. really small quantities mean most or all of the fines rinse off with minimum water usage. It may seem more tedious but in the long run takes less time and water. As well, the water will be crystal clear from the start. One thing I found when cleaning black blasting and, which is very dirty was to air clen it before washing. I took it and poured it back and forth between a couple of buckets, outside, with a breeze, and much of the very fine dust blew away. Saved a lot of time with the washing. I don't see why this wouldn't work with any sand.


----------

