Switching from gravel to sand!

[Mrs.h2012]

Just bought my sand It was a lot cheaper than I expected, $4 for a 50lbs bag. I'll take it! What all do I need to rinse it with?

 

[George9]

Just bought my sand It was a lot cheaper than I expected, $4 for a 50lbs bag. I'll take it! What all do I need to rinse it with?

$4 for 50 lbs!! Three words: what a steal!!

Is it pool filter sand? I'd rinse it out in buckets real good before putting it in the tank. Just rinse with water

 

[TOMatt]

I followed this plan, it was pretty helpful: Sand Washing/Rinsing Tutorial

 

[jlk]

An old clean pillow case & your kitchen sink or pillow case & a bucket & hose outside. Rinse it small batches (wet sand is heavy!) until it runs clear while stirring. Then rinse again atleast another time or two. Have fun! Lol

 

[Aqualady40]

yayayyy...rinse, rinse, rinse till clear...can't wait to see pic

 

[Mrs.h2012]

$4 for 50 lbs!! Three words: what a steal!!

Is it pool filter sand? I'd rinse it out in buckets real good before putting it in the tank. Just rinse with water

It's play sand. On the bag it says it's premium silica sand. I want to do it so bad tonight, but I gotta wait till tomorrow

 

[Mrs.h2012]

About to move my fish to their temporary home
After a quick clean up of the tank they are going in, and then the transfer will begin! I hope I don't have to rinse this a ton! So excited!!!

 

[phin]

I've rinsed lots of sand, several times. I use a garden hose and a few five gallon buckets (at leat one is a necessity).

I fill the bucket up half way with sand, put the garden hose on full blast, and put in the bucket down into the sand. The dust and floating particles will rinse out as the bucket over flows. Then I pour out the water, letting the loose sand out. I keep rinsing each half-bucket full of sand like this until I'm satisfied with the clairty. When one bucket of sand is rinsed I'll pour that sand into another bucket full of sand i have already rinsed, or into the empty aquarium.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I've rinsed lots of sand, several times. I use a garden hose and a few five gallon buckets (at leat one is a necessity).

I fill the bucket up half way with sand, put the garden hose on full blast, and put in the bucket down into the sand. The dust and floating particles will rinse out as the bucket over flows. Then I pour out the water, letting the loose sand out. I keep rinsing each half-bucket full of sand like this until I'm satisfied with the clairty. When one bucket of sand is rinsed I'll pour that sand into another bucket full of sand i have already rinsed, or into the empty aquarium.

Thanks for the info! I'll have to make do with a kitchen sprayer, it's cold where I live and I have kids, a 3 year old and 3 month old, so going outside to do this out of the question. Progress: fish are in their temporary home, now draining my 55g, unfortunately with buckets

 

[Mrs.h2012]

First bucket of sand rinsed and in the tank! Making progress!

 

[FishDaAx]

First bucket of sand rinsed and in the tank! Making progress!

I got pool filter tand from the hardware store. 100 pound bag of 20grit silica sand for on $8! The pool filter silica sand I think is a larger grit than play sand so there is less air pockets. I really like it and the girt gives a nice beach look. Here is a picture of mine.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I thought I rinsed the sand pretty well... But I guess not. I'm working on filling it up and water is already pretty cloudy

 

[Bman024]

When you think you've rinsed it enough, rinse it more! I used PFS in my 29g. I filled a 5g bucket about 1/3 they way and just kept hitting it with a nice spray of water. Put my hands in there and mixed it around nice and good, dump out the dirty water and just keep doing this until the water is clean. I never had any cloudiness or any problems with color from my sand as I washed it very good.

Good switch BTW! I am VERY happy with my PFS and so are my Cory and Pleco!!

 

[Aqualady40]

When you think you've rinsed it enough, rinse it more! I used PFS in my 29g. I filled a 5g bucket about 1/3 they way and just kept hitting it with a nice spray of water. Put my hands in there and mixed it around nice and good, dump out the dirty water and just keep doing this until the water is clean. I never had any cloudiness or any problems with color from my sand as I washed it very good.

Good switch BTW! I am VERY happy with my PFS and so are my Cory and Pleco!!

+1 same here......

 

[Aqualady40]

I got pool filter tand from the hardware store. 100 pound bag of 20grit silica sand for on $8! The pool filter silica sand I think is a larger grit than play sand so there is less air pockets. I really like it and the girt gives a nice beach look. Here is a picture of mine.

View attachment 142953

nice pic

 

[FishDaAx]

nice pic

Thank you

 

[Mrs.h2012]

When you think you've rinsed it enough, rinse it more! I used PFS in my 29g. I filled a 5g bucket about 1/3 they way and just kept hitting it with a nice spray of water. Put my hands in there and mixed it around nice and good, dump out the dirty water and just keep doing this until the water is clean. I never had any cloudiness or any problems with color from my sand as I washed it very good.

Good switch BTW! I am VERY happy with my PFS and so are my Cory and Pleco!!

I'm hoping my cories will be a lot happier.

 

[Bman024]

I'm hoping my cories will be a lot happier.

They will be! My Julii just love it and it's so fun to watch them school around and play in the sand! It's like they are belly surfing around or something!

Honestly on of my favorite parts about the sand is that nothing penetrates it like with gravel. I spend less time vacuuming because there isn't as much on top of the sand as with gravel you have to dig deep! I use HOB filters and rinse out the media weekly/bi-weekly.

 

[Aqualady40]

They will be! My Julii just love it and it's so fun to watch them school around and play in the sand! It's like they are belly surfing around or something!

Honestly on of my favorite parts about the sand is that nothing penetrates it like with gravel. I spend less time vacuuming because there isn't as much on top of the sand as with gravel you have to dig deep! I use HOB filters and rinse out the media weekly/bi-weekly.

+1 it is very easy and quick to clean....the cory's also will shoot the sand through their gills neat to see but I have to be closeup on the tank to notice (use a magnifying glass to really see it)..lol....can't wait to see your pics

 

[phin]

I thought I rinsed the sand pretty well... But I guess not. I'm working on filling it up and water is already pretty cloudy

It is going to be cloudy for a bit even if you rinsed it completely. Let it settle for a couple hours if you can before running your filter to keep any large grains from getting into the impeller.

As long as you don't have a film floating on the top of the water then you rinsed it enough.