used sand

dfreeman · 02/28/2006, 05:50 PM

only dumb question is one not asked right???? We got about 100#of sand bed from someone that broke down their tank. Rinsed it all off and it appears to have ALOT of carbon in with the sand. When it was rinsed and sifted, lots of black fines came off and there are several pieces mixed with the rest. I'm thinking it wont hurt because carbon is used and to me it looks like the carbon sack was just dumped in with the sand. Too much to seperate out.
Suggestions for a newbie.
Thanks
Dewayne & Lisa

pvtschultz · 02/28/2006, 06:02 PM

I am guessing that it is slag and not carbon. You could find out by dumping a mixture of it into a tall class of water. If it is carbon, it will fall slower than the sand. If not, it will fall at about the same rate as the sand. It could be that Tahitian sand or whaterver it is called (black sand). Either way I don't think that it is really going to matter. Unfortunately it was rinsed. You would have a pre-cycled, critter loaded eco system and not have to wait so long for them to get up to a sustained population.

dfreeman · 02/28/2006, 06:10 PM

thanks for the reply. The sand had been rinsed before and we were the third buyer so it sat in 5gal buckets with no water for awhile. Thanks again for the tip.

02/28/2006, 05:50 PM	#1
dfreeman Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Deer Park, Texas Posts: 54	used sand only dumb question is one not asked right???? We got about 100#of sand bed from someone that broke down their tank. Rinsed it all off and it appears to have ALOT of carbon in with the sand. When it was rinsed and sifted, lots of black fines came off and there are several pieces mixed with the rest. I'm thinking it wont hurt because carbon is used and to me it looks like the carbon sack was just dumped in with the sand. Too much to seperate out. Suggestions for a newbie. Thanks Dewayne & Lisa

02/28/2006, 06:02 PM	#2
pvtschultz Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: New Berlin , WI Posts: 1,247	I am guessing that it is slag and not carbon. You could find out by dumping a mixture of it into a tall class of water. If it is carbon, it will fall slower than the sand. If not, it will fall at about the same rate as the sand. It could be that Tahitian sand or whaterver it is called (black sand). Either way I don't think that it is really going to matter. Unfortunately it was rinsed. You would have a pre-cycled, critter loaded eco system and not have to wait so long for them to get up to a sustained population.

02/28/2006, 06:10 PM	#3
dfreeman Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Deer Park, Texas Posts: 54	thanks for the reply. The sand had been rinsed before and we were the third buyer so it sat in 5gal buckets with no water for awhile. Thanks again for the tip.