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Post by jmerr86 on Dec 26, 2015 12:34:10 GMT -5
So I have 30 lds or so of black live sand from a system I let go and I would like to add it to one of other tanks so well outside boiling the rocks that came out of it on my pot burner I thought hay why not boil the sand too but then I got to thinking I probably don't want to be putting cooked bristle worms and such in my tank so I did a little research and seen were some were someone had used bleach others just let water run through it thought I ask if anyone knew a better way to remove all the organics to save from a cycle
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Post by spotfin on Dec 26, 2015 16:11:30 GMT -5
Probable extensive washing. Might not be worth all the effort.
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Post by reefkprz on Dec 27, 2015 6:14:15 GMT -5
extensive washing, then soaking with water changes in RO water. the biggest problem with old sand is, it is aragonite and has a really high CEC, CEC is cation exchange capacity. meaning it soaks up cations and releases them easily so as the "live" sand dies off and breaks down all the organics in it, the aragonite absorbs all the nitrate and phosphate it can hold and similar cations, with out extended soaking in clean water to allow the sand to release those cations, you are basically starting with algae fuel for sand. or if adding it to an existing tank your adding all the phosphates etc from the organic die off. there is more to it than just getting rid of the visible dead stuff.
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Post by jmerr86 on Dec 27, 2015 10:44:40 GMT -5
well I boiled it all for 30 min or so then changed the water and did it again so its pretty dead I have read some about acid washing but I tend to be like a baker when it comes to stuff (a pinch here a dash of that and good enough) and don't wont to screw it up so I guess I'm looking for the idiot proof of getting it as clean as possible.
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Post by jasonbowdoin on Dec 27, 2015 10:53:33 GMT -5
Is it really worth the risk to you? Latter all the time cleaning the sand there is a good chance of a crash anyway
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Post by jmerr86 on Dec 27, 2015 14:36:48 GMT -5
I've heard that even adding new sand can cause tanks to cycle so as far as I'm concerned its a risk either way. The problem I'm having is that over the past 4 years all the crushed coral I had on bottom has found its way to the top and though I'm reading 0 Po4 using ati test kit for what its worth I'm still having junk algae grow on this crushed crap fill rubble leading me to believe that the rocks are leaching just enough to keep the algae growing but not enough for me to test so in turn I though I would take this old sand clean it up and do away with the rubble
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Post by reefkprz on Dec 28, 2015 8:12:04 GMT -5
keep it in a container of RO water, and do ro water changes regularly for a while, stirring the sand regularly, this will allow the algae fuel to leach out before you add it to your tank. Then cycle the sand separately in marine water for several weeks to allow it to become bacterially "live" before adding this will be the lowest risk course, the slower you go the lower the risk.
I don't know what this "causing cycle" myth is. A cycle never ends ever. Ever. It hurts my brain when I hear people say their cycle is over. Your tank is constantly cycling nitrogenous waste any large changes may cause an imbalance in the cycle, or nutrient spiking etc. Adding the sand a cup or two at a time over a couple months will reduce the the impact of the change you are initiating, mitigating any imbalance to the cycle.
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Post by jmerr86 on Dec 28, 2015 20:50:18 GMT -5
ya "cycle" is a bad description but anyway I ended up giving it a vinegar bath then rinsed the heck out of it and now it all in a spare tank full of RO water with an old mechanical filter running gfo and carbon
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Post by reefkprz on Jan 1, 2016 9:24:24 GMT -5
there you go, for giggles after a few days shut off the GFO and let it circulate for 24 hours and test the water, with no filtration to eat up any phosphate you should get a reading if it is leaching, make sure you are stirring the sand regularly so as much as possible gets exposed to the water.
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