Substrate rinsing

[BrianBell1974]

what is the best way to effectively rinse sand. Other than putting it in a bucket and running water into it. If anyone has a different method let me know.
Also should I use tap water to clean it or should I use my RO/DI water. For those who use tap do you let it completely dry before adding it to the tank?

Thanks for the help

[Buster4900]

I have used tap water in a bucket method. I see no need for ro/di water to rinse or a need to let it dry.

[Cbane]

Hello, I have a question ..if I may ..Do you put the sand in first and then the rock on top of it..or do you you put in the rock and the sand around it ? ...Thanks for any help !!

[ste6168]

hey, when i rinsed my sand i just put the back in a 20g bucket with rope handles and filled that with tap water, moved it around for about 30seconds with my hands then dumped that water out. I did that 4 times with each bag and it worked great, hardly had any cloud when i filled my tank!!!

cbane- my tank is actually running right now with no LR and just sand, for about 3 days now, i am putting the rock in after the sand, but am sure there are mixed opinions about this, just like everything else in this hobby.

HTH Mike

[Buster4900]

I put the sand in first, then the rock.

[Cbane]

Yeah, that's what I've seen too.. mixed opinions..Thanks Buster4900 ..Looks like I'll go on top too...Looked in alot of galleries and looks like the way to go ! Thanks for the help!

[BrianBell1974]

Does anyone have any special method of adding sand to a tank with water in it lessing the dust cloud?

[RamPuppy]

keep the bag the sand came in, dump it into a container to rinse it, when your done cleaning up the sand, put it back in the bag, twist the opening tight, and then lower the bag into the tank, turn the bag over, open it up, and gently deposit it on the bottom of the tank.

[Cbane]

Originally posted by ste6168
cbane- my tank is actually running right now with no LR and just sand, for about 3 days now, i am putting the rock in after the sand, but am sure there are mixed opinions about this, just like everything else in this hobby.

HTH Mike

Hey Mike ...Are you going with FOWLR or reef ? Why did you fill your tank up before you get the rock? How much rock will you get? Sorry for all questions ...sounds like we're in the same boat here. I just got my 120 gal and I'm making RO water now.. got the sand in now I'm going to fill to half and order the rock..My LFS has some but not that great and at $ 7.00 a pound, I'm going to look around..I'm looking for 150 pounds ...That's were i'm at ..Thanks ... Charles

BrianBell1974 ...I would wash it good first and put it in a handful at a time and if you have fish, go slow and only a little at a time.
see ya ..Charles

[KEITHMC]

I use an old pillowcase and rinse it in the sink till the water is clear.

[jgsensor]

If you are not planning to elavate the rock above the sand on some sort of grating or stilt type of set up (this allows water flow under the rock), I would place the rock in the tank first and then add the sand around the rock. I learned this the hard way. The reason being is there are certain tank inhabitants who like to dig in the sand or move the sand around. If the rock is stacked up ontop of the rock and the sand is dug out from under said rock, there is a great chance that stack of rocks is going to collapse to fill the void. i lost a few corals this way before I learned.

[ste6168]

umm... well lets just say my tank will be a "light" reef, by that i only mean that i am only going to have a few easy to care for corals for a while then maybe upgrade to MH lighting and harder corals. As for filling my tank up before getting the rock, i first filled it up for 2 days to do the leak test and after i found no leaks i added the salt water, my tank has been running for about a week now with no rock. I just ordered a 40lb box of base rock from my LFS that should come in this week sometime and then i am going to order the 45lb box of fiji from liveaquaria.com. I am going to put about 75lbs in my display and 10lbs of base in my intake section of my sump as a bubble tower thing like melev uses. I love the questions so keep them coming if you want. I also have a diary of my tank at My Diary (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=705007) so if you want you can check it out so far and leave me some feedback.

HTH, Mike