# Playsand needs a rinsing?



## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

How do I go on washing 50 lbs of play sand and how long does it take? Wash it with water in a 5 lb. bucket? What's the EASIEST way to wash play sand effectively, mess-free, and in a short period of time? I have over five 50 lbs for a 250 gallon arowana tank. Any advice?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

My advice is you should go to a swimming pool supply place and buy pool filter sand (the medium grain stuff). It is crushed quartz and needs no rinsing, and it is dirt cheap ($8 for 50 pounds). You'll need 4-5 bags for your 250 to get a 2.5 inch deep substrate.

Play sand often has minerals in it that dissolve and change the water chemistry so it usually isn't suitable, though some brands are ok.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Zapins said:


> My advice is you should go to a swimming pool supply place and buy pool filter sand (the medium grain stuff). It is crushed quartz and needs no rinsing, and it is dirt cheap ($8 for 50 pounds). You'll need 4-5 bags for your 250 to get a 2.5 inch deep substrate.
> 
> Play sand often has minerals in it that dissolve and change the water chemistry so it usually isn't suitable, though some brands are ok.


Ah interesting. I will go with PFS then. Thanks for the advice, this will definitely save me time.


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## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

You should still rinse it if you want a perfectly clear aquarium from the start.
Just use 5 gallon buckets, put 1 or 2 gallons of sand in, use a garden hose with no sprayer to wash the sand, then dump the water out without dumping the sand out when the bucket is full. Repeat until the water is clear. Should take 2-3 buckets of water.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I'm not sure about all brands, but the pool filter sand I got didn't cloud the water at all even without washing. It also didn't raise the TDS reading. Though I think the pool filter sand I got is pretty typical of most pool filter sands because what good would putting sand in your pool's filter be if it clouded the pool up?

Best to ask the guy at the shop though just to be sure.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Zapins said:


> I'm not sure about all brands, but the pool filter sand I got didn't cloud the water at all even without washing. It also didn't raise the TDS reading. Though I think the pool filter sand I got is pretty typical of most pool filter sands because what good would putting sand in your pool's filter be if it clouded the pool up?
> 
> Best to ask the guy at the shop though just to be sure.


I don't think all PFS is created equal. I've always rinsed mine and saw a cloudiness come off the top after doing so. With many pools totaling 15,000 to 30,000 gallons I don't think the pool filter sand in the filter would have the same effect on clarity as it would in a 10 gal tank with the entire bottom PFS.


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## Weq (Sep 1, 2009)

washing your sand of all the smaller solids only makes maintence and tank life better in the long run. Simply partion it out and run it under a strong stream of water, punching it and mixing it with ur hand. Rinse and repeat until the water is clear...

Less smaller solids = less chance or aerobic conditions IMO. And if u have digging/buldosing inhabitants, it means they can be as messy as they like with the sand, and your tank will clear in seconds all the time!

That said; if u are going to rinse, playsand is more expensive as its already pre-washed (but not to aquarium specs). I just grabbed 'washed sand', it was 1/4 of the price and i liked the colour more anyway. Washed sand simply means it isnt full of clay.


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

50# of sand is about an hour of rinsing, I dont suggest spraying water into a bucket as the pressure will kick up the biggest grains of sand and wash them out as well, I shove a hose into a bucket full of sand maybe 3" from the top and use a thick stick to turn the sand while the water is being injected from the bottom of the sand not the top, loose/small bits float up and out.

Its WELL worth the time spent rinsing it rather then possible filter breakdowns and maintence later on.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Any bagged material will rub against itself in the bag, and create fines. Play sand around here is about like flour. Worthless for aquariums. 

I have had no problems with 30 mesh pool filter sand. I do not rinse it, but I do dampen it to keep the dust down, then pour it in. 
Put a plate or plastic bag over the sand and pour the water in slowly over the plate. No faster than a gallon a minute. When the water is deep enough that you can fill without disturbing the sand you can turn up the volume. 

I used to rinse substrate. Here are a couple of ways:
1) 2-3 gallons of material in a 5 gallon bucket. 
Hose to the bottom of the bucket. 
Turn on the water and start stirring. Light stuff will float. 
Allow the bucket to overflow. 
Keep stirring, and keep the water entering at the bottom. When the water is no longer cloudy, carefully dump it. 
2) Substrate in a pillow case. Start with it in a bucket, similar to above, but then take the pillow case of material out of the bucket and keep running the water through.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Ah thank you all for the very informative responses, guys. I really appreciate the advices you all given me. I will give them all a try. Thanks for the reply, Diana.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Come to think of it. An even easier way to get all the fine particles out (if there are any) is just to dump all the sand directly into your tank. Then if there is any dust it will be suspended in the water column, all you need to do is drain the water out and replace it with fresh water. You don't even need a 100% full tank, you could do this with your tank at 30-40% full. This certainly saves you 5-6 hours of sand washing, and you may not even need to change the water in the tank if you got a good batch.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

That is 'rinsing the sand in the tank' and sure works! 
You can stir the sand a lot, too, while you are rinsing it to get rid of even more fines. I would not bother adding dechlor to this water, it will be drained and refilled several times. 

End run: Drain the tank, the sand is still wet. Add decor, make walls and hills... Plant. 
Then put a plate or plastic bag over the substrate and fill it slowly by allowing the water to run in over the plate. (This water gets the dechlor, and is the right temperature, and has any mineral additives it needs)

Question, though: The finer material is the stuff with high Cationic Exchange Capacity. In rinsing and removing the fines are we leaving the tank with coarser material that does not hold fertilizer the way that finer substrate can? In this sense, sand (any particle size) is about the same as gravel: it is of no help in holding the fertilizer in the root zone of the plants.


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## goldier (Feb 13, 2010)

Diana K said:


> Question, though: The finer material is the stuff with high Cationic Exchange Capacity. In rinsing and removing the fines are we leaving the tank with coarser material that does not hold fertilizer the way that finer substrate can? In this sense, sand (any particle size) is about the same as gravel: it is of no help in holding the fertilizer in the root zone of the plants.


Since the commercial sand bags have very little or devoid of humus/loams, their CEC is already low. The finer particles make a dense barrier, which would make the ions less permeable below the sand surface, except on the surface of the substrate. The ions can get deeper in coarser sand, which in effect, can result in equivalent or higher exchange capacity. But still less compared to clay and soil.

http://soils.tfrec.wsu.edu/webnutritiongood/soilprops/04CEC.htm


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Good point. 
Sand without the fines can also allow organic matter into the substrate and organic matter can also hold certain fertilizers and minerals similar to the way high CEC soils can.


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