i am planning a silica sand as substrate to my 110G, actually, i have it already.. now my question is, how do i know if the sand are now safe to the aquarium.. i am not sure on how to clean the sand.. i keep rinsing it for like 30mins. but still, it still cloudy..
best way to rinse sand is in a 5g bucket.
fill the bucket about halfway with sand. (no more. so you will have to do the sand in parts) then all you need to do is run a hose into the bucket and let it fill and overflow. turn up the sand by hand every 15 minutes or so (you can wait longer if you want) and continue to rinse until the water runs clear.
then do the next batch and continue untill you have your desired amount of substrate
thank you for that.. i did mine for 30 mins. now but still there's a cloudiness of the water, do you think it's fine though? as it will clear eventually on the tank? (hopefully)
nope, keep going. it can take hours depending on the clay buildup in the bag of sand.
but silica sand is usually pretty clean to start with. just let the water run in the bucket until its clear. youll know when its ok
To test to make sure it won't affect your pH (it shouldn't but you never know) just take a sample and put a drop of your nitrate test #1 bottle on it. It contains hydrochloric acid, so if it bubbles don't use it because it will raise your pH.
You will need to rinse a LOT longer than 30 minutes. It took me hours (like maybe 5) to rinse the sand for my 29 gallon. I did a little bit each day though because I couldn't stand rinsing sand that long!
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