Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have a strainer that I can put the sand in. Is that ok to use over the sink, or do I still got to go outside. The 50 pound bag is way to heavy for me to carry outside. I'm going to have someone help me with it. I can barely pick up the 50 pound bag. I have a 40 gallon tank, so how many 50 gallon bags do I need to use?
A strainer will allow particles smaller than the holes in the strainer to go down your drain. If too much goes down, be prepared to call in a plumber because it will block up your drain. Ask me how I know. If the bag is too heavy, bring your bucket to the bag and scoop only the amount of sand you can carry outside to rinse it off. Let some water run into the bucket and stir the sand while the water is running and the dust will over flow out. When the runoff water is mostly clear ( it will never get totally clear) , drain the water and dump the sand into the tank. When you are done and you fill up the tank with water, it will be a little hazy for a day or two while your filter filters out the leftover dust.
As for how much sand, the deeper the sand bed, the greater the chances of creating dead areas in the bed go up. While Aiken is correct for the amount for a typical tank, unless you are planning on keeping live plants, I would not make a bed that deep. As I said, I kept my 40 long with a 1" deep bed of sand. This was my corydora breeding tank and the fish did just fine in it. That was about one 50 lb bag. ( I used the sand for my cactus soil as well so I don't know the exact amount used. )