i just bought 2 bags of beach sand from a LFS. what are the steps needed to rinse it so that it will be safe to use for a freshwater tank?
im putting in beach sand
- Thread starter weway
- Start date
I use 5 gallon buckets. Put in about a gallon worth of sand and put a garden hose in there. Run water and stir until the water runs clear. Repeat with the rest of the sand.
Did u buy live marine sand or just regular sand?? If its not live i would put some of it in a 5 gallon bucket or bigger if you have a big plastic tote or something and fill it up with water, then stir the sand around so the water gets cloudy and then take that water out, then add more clean water and stir it again and empty that water and keep repeating this until the water stays fairly clear.. Just wait a few seconds after mixing it up so the sand can settle and its just the small particles floating..
apisto;3388867; said:
Agreed, the beach sand is likely to be full of crushed shells, and will make your water harder. (unless you are doing an rift valley tank, in which case, just wash it)
i bought live marine sand ... i did as what you all guys said... stir it up till it gets clear.. when it gets clear, does this also mean that its salinity has gone down or better yet to zero?
livee marine sand?!?!? uh you cant use that for freshwater... silica sand of pfs is your best choice. live sand will make your water hard... someone explain why live sand cant be used to freshwater
wait wait.. the sand came directly from the beach.. is that live marine sand? im confused.. lolzzz
weway;3387838; said:
weway;3393153; said:
For both of these statements to be true, the LFS collected sand from the beach and sold it to you...
Why would you pay for such sand?
iloveoscars702;3392546; said:
If you cannot explain the logic behind your response... how confident can you really be in your response? Therefore shouldn't you simply leave the thread for those who understand the answer they have to offer?
weway;3392472; said:
If you actually bought "Live Marine Sand" it's benefit is that it has the bacteria needed gfor BioFiltration in saltwater...
If it is to be used in freshwater it should be cleaned thoroughly... thus you would have been better off buying regular old sand...
As mentioned, "Beach Sand" will likely have shells or coral based minerals. These will raise your KH (Carbonate hardness, different from general hardness which is what we call hard or soft water) and will most likely also raise your PH (depending on the values of both PH & KH when you started).
Both the Author and the responders of this thread have so thoroughly mislead one another it's crazy...