yea pillow case does work just make sure not to use a cheap one are it will rip and i rinsed my play sand till the water ran clean the tank water will still cloud but it will settle
best way to clean play sand
- Thread starter ElectricJackDempsey
- Start date
I just used a 10gal (ish) pale, poured it about half full of sand (out of a 50lb bag, this was about half the bag)
I put that in my bathtub and used a fairly high-pressure hose-style shower head to fill it with water. As it was filling I was churning the sand by hand. When the bucket was full I churned it a little bit more and then dumped the water out. I repeated this process as many times as it took for the water to be relatively clear. As already mentioned, it would still get cloudy while filling with water, but would settle fairly quickly and you could tell the difference between a 'clean' cloudiness and grimy nastiness that you'll see the first couple rinses.
On the first batch I made the mistake of trying to hold this pale over my tank (65g) and dump the sand in. I think a good 15 pounds of sand came out all at one time and for a split second I thought i had broken my tank
I scooped the rest of that pale out by hand, but I got smarter on the second batch (Remember I did about half the bag at a time).
On the second batch I took the clean sand and put it into a 5 gallon bucket that fits in my tank through the hood. Just get it completely submerged, overturn it in the tank and the sand will come out nice and easy.
My water is still a little bit cloudy, but its also cycling and I'm not an expert yet on keeping clear water. I'm hoping that once the cycle finishes it will clear up and everything will be fine.
Also, sidenote. If you're planning on using rocks, go get some eggcrate and line the bottom of your tank BEFORE adding the sand
I used the Quickcrete brand play sand from Lowes, cost me 5 bucks for a 50lb bag and it looks fine. I really wanted black sand, but I just couldn't afford 'real' aquarium sand, and couldn't find any alternative black sand (granted, I didn't look very hard, I'm VERY impatient)
edit: I feel like this method HAS to be faster than just letting water run in the bucket until it runs clear with no manual churning or cleaning of any sort. I never tried it that way, but this way went pretty quick (granted my arms were pretty damn tired at the end of it)
I put that in my bathtub and used a fairly high-pressure hose-style shower head to fill it with water. As it was filling I was churning the sand by hand. When the bucket was full I churned it a little bit more and then dumped the water out. I repeated this process as many times as it took for the water to be relatively clear. As already mentioned, it would still get cloudy while filling with water, but would settle fairly quickly and you could tell the difference between a 'clean' cloudiness and grimy nastiness that you'll see the first couple rinses.
On the first batch I made the mistake of trying to hold this pale over my tank (65g) and dump the sand in. I think a good 15 pounds of sand came out all at one time and for a split second I thought i had broken my tank
I scooped the rest of that pale out by hand, but I got smarter on the second batch (Remember I did about half the bag at a time).On the second batch I took the clean sand and put it into a 5 gallon bucket that fits in my tank through the hood. Just get it completely submerged, overturn it in the tank and the sand will come out nice and easy.
My water is still a little bit cloudy, but its also cycling and I'm not an expert yet on keeping clear water. I'm hoping that once the cycle finishes it will clear up and everything will be fine.
Also, sidenote. If you're planning on using rocks, go get some eggcrate and line the bottom of your tank BEFORE adding the sand
I used the Quickcrete brand play sand from Lowes, cost me 5 bucks for a 50lb bag and it looks fine. I really wanted black sand, but I just couldn't afford 'real' aquarium sand, and couldn't find any alternative black sand (granted, I didn't look very hard, I'm VERY impatient
)edit: I feel like this method HAS to be faster than just letting water run in the bucket until it runs clear with no manual churning or cleaning of any sort. I never tried it that way, but this way went pretty quick (granted my arms were pretty damn tired at the end of it)
Best way to clean play sand
1) get three buckets, 1gal, 3gal, and 5gal
2) fill 3gal bucket halfway and fill with water
3) dump 3gal into 1gal until full, then empty into 5gal
4) repeat steps 1) - 3) until 5gal is full
5) spread on large concrete surface to dry, the thinner the better
6) scoop all sand into sand box
7) purchase pool filter sand
8) rinse in 5gal bucket 5"-6" at a time
9) turn off filter and scoop gently into aquarium until it settles
10) consider how easy it would have been to start at 7)
1) get three buckets, 1gal, 3gal, and 5gal
2) fill 3gal bucket halfway and fill with water
3) dump 3gal into 1gal until full, then empty into 5gal
4) repeat steps 1) - 3) until 5gal is full
5) spread on large concrete surface to dry, the thinner the better
6) scoop all sand into sand box
7) purchase pool filter sand
8) rinse in 5gal bucket 5"-6" at a time
9) turn off filter and scoop gently into aquarium until it settles
10) consider how easy it would have been to start at 7)
ar0wan;4475001; said:Best way to clean play sand
1) get three buckets, 1gal, 3gal, and 5gal
2) fill 3gal bucket halfway and fill with water
3) dump 3gal into 1gal until full, then empty into 5gal
4) repeat steps 1) - 3) until 5gal is full
5) spread on large concrete surface to dry, the thinner the better
6) scoop all sand into sand box
7) purchase pool filter sand
8) rinse in 5gal bucket 5"-6" at a time
9) turn off filter and scoop gently into aquarium until it settles
10) consider how easy it would have been to start at 7)
