Adding sand

[Spotted]

I want to add sand to my tank. It has been cycled and has fish in it. I want to rinse the sand, but how do I do it. I've read to use a hose till the water runs clear. So, tap water to rinse the sand? That doesn't sound right.
Any suggestions?

 

[AquaRick]

How much sand are you going to add? How much sand is already in your tank?

You can go ahead and rinse with tap water. If it's not much you're adding, I would probably rinse it in a 5g bucket under the bath tub faucet. Swirl the sand with your hand/arm while the faucet is on. Once the water starts to run clear you should be fine. For extra precaution you can then do a quick final rinse with RODI water if you want.

 

[Spotted]

It is a 120 gallon 48X24X25.
I have 80# in it now. I want to double it. The bottom looks a little bare. From time to time the power heads will expose the glass.
So it's ok to use tap? Final rinse with RO/DI make me feel better.
Thanks!

 

[AquaRick]

If you're using live sand, don't wash it. But if it's PFS or play sand yeah, it's going to need a good wash. Tap will be fine. I don't think the sand will need the RODI rinse, but if anything it will put you at ease

 

[lee1983]

to add without clouding your water fill a small cola bottle almost full with sand then fill to the top with tank water then if you pour carefully not too far from the aquarium floor the sand will flow out and the small fine particles will float up and be trapped in the bottle.
sand i found is the way forward plants love it an if you get an aqua vac fish waste sits on top making it easy to clean just give it a poke an swirl every now and again as it can trap ammonia bubbles.
have fun