Do you rinse sand substrate? With what?

WinnipegDragon · 05/28/2007, 05:10 PM

The title is question is pretty much the question

I'm adding 2 bags of CaribSea sugar sand to my RSM tonight, and I'm not sure if I rinse it? Do you rinse in tap or RO/DI water?

zma21 · 05/28/2007, 05:16 PM

I rinsed mine in RO water. RODI would be even better.

Drix · 05/28/2007, 05:49 PM

I rinsed mine with tap water in a giant wok-

I just tilted the wok a bit in my sink and let the water run in mix, and overflow off an edge and out. I did a bag of sand in batches of half an hour each, though you could do it until it's not cloudy anymore. IMO rinsing sand with RODI water is a waste of money unless you have it laying about.

drummereef · 05/28/2007, 06:47 PM

Not necessary to rinse, imo. The small sand grains are beneficial to the sandbed and shouldn't be removed through rinsing.

WinnipegDragon · 05/28/2007, 07:00 PM

Hmm, I would rather not have to rinse, but I don't want to be half-arsed about this either. I'll try and do more reading just to be sure, but thanks for the opinions!

Edit: Looked at three sites, one said no rinse, one said rinse with tap, one said rinse with RO/DI

I think I will do a only one rinse with distilled. Just enough to get rid of dust.

Thanks again!

Henry Bowman · 05/28/2007, 07:54 PM

I'd rinse it ! I rinsed 2 bags to put into a DSB in my sump and went to add a 3rd. Did it without rinsing and it took a week for the tank to clear up and it left a fine powder coating on everything in the tank. Fortunately just setting up, no livestock in the tank !

messina06 · 05/28/2007, 09:09 PM

depends on if the bag had a decent amount of water or if it was the new carib sand with not as much. If not much water I would rinse with salt water that you will use in your tank to remove the white foam that will occur if not

05/28/2007, 05:10 PM	#1
WinnipegDragon Canuckian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 1,276	Do you rinse sand substrate? With what? The title is question is pretty much the question I'm adding 2 bags of CaribSea sugar sand to my RSM tonight, and I'm not sure if I rinse it? Do you rinse in tap or RO/DI water?

05/28/2007, 05:16 PM	#2
zma21 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NOLA Posts: 1,453	I rinsed mine in RO water. RODI would be even better. __________________ SCA 50 Starfire: In Progress Current Tank Info: 20 High -> 40 Cube -> Nanocube 12 DX -> 25 Gallon Rimless -> 10 Gallon AGA Temporary Tank -> JBJ 24 LED -> SCA Starfire 50 Cube

05/28/2007, 06:47 PM	#4
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	Not necessary to rinse, imo. The small sand grains are beneficial to the sandbed and shouldn't be removed through rinsing. __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

05/28/2007, 07:00 PM	#5
WinnipegDragon Canuckian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 1,276	Hmm, I would rather not have to rinse, but I don't want to be half-arsed about this either. I'll try and do more reading just to be sure, but thanks for the opinions! Edit: Looked at three sites, one said no rinse, one said rinse with tap, one said rinse with RO/DI I think I will do a only one rinse with distilled. Just enough to get rid of dust. Thanks again! __________________ Working on a neeew tank! http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25596043 Last edited by WinnipegDragon; 05/28/2007 at 07:06 PM.

05/28/2007, 07:54 PM	#6
Henry Bowman Reefing since '87 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Allegheny Mountains of VA Posts: 2,162	I'd rinse it ! I rinsed 2 bags to put into a DSB in my sump and went to add a 3rd. Did it without rinsing and it took a week for the tank to clear up and it left a fine powder coating on everything in the tank. Fortunately just setting up, no livestock in the tank ! __________________ Have a good'un Current Tank Info: 90 gl SPS dominant / upgrade in the works

05/28/2007, 05:49 PM	#3
Drix Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 590	I rinsed mine with tap water in a giant wok- I just tilted the wok a bit in my sink and let the water run in mix, and overflow off an edge and out. I did a bag of sand in batches of half an hour each, though you could do it until it's not cloudy anymore. IMO rinsing sand with RODI water is a waste of money unless you have it laying about.

05/28/2007, 09:09 PM	#7
messina06 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: ft lauderdale, FL Posts: 364	depends on if the bag had a decent amount of water or if it was the new carib sand with not as much. If not much water I would rinse with salt water that you will use in your tank to remove the white foam that will occur if not