washing sand

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Why wash the sand? I don't I want to keep all sizes of the sand, even the silt. If your worried about the cloud you can keep it down by either putting the sand in first and putting a plate in the bottom of the tank to pump you water in, or if the water is already in then you can put it in a "tupperware" boel take it to the bottom and open it and let the sand loose, you will have a cloud but not as bad as if you just dump it in.
 
I wouldn't wash it either unless it quite obviously needs it. If you don't have RO then atleast add some dechlorinator to the tap water first. A lot of it will get trapped in the sand so it's best to be safe.
 
One of the sources I read recommended that I washed non-living sand prior to adding it to the tank. You guys are probably right, it's probably just to prevent heavy clouds from forming.
 
Take a look at my gallery, my 46 bow front has been set back up since Sunday. I put the sand in, placed a plate in the tank and used a powerhead pump to pump the water right on to the plate. I had a bigger cloud from adding ym salt. :roll: , I let it run for a day and placed filters in the hob's and in an hour the rest of the cloud was gone.
 
The worst is when you realize after you addeed the water that you want another 50lbs. What a mess that was, it took almost 3 days to clear.
 
The worst is when you realize after you addeed the water that you want another 50lbs. What a mess that was, it took almost 3 days to clear.


Yes, that is a mess. Here is a solution, cut the end of the bag off, submerge the whole bag and ease it out of the bag on to the surface. You will still get a cloud but it should minimize it. Also turn off the powerheads and hob's for a little while to allow the sand to settle a little, if not it will just stay in the water colum and get into your filters & stuff.
 
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