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live sand question.

3K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  SuperFishFan 
#1 ·
i got 60lbs of caribsea live sand original grade in the mail today. do i need to pre-rinse live sand? nothing is in my tank except salt water right now. so does the sand need to be rinsed or will i loose the "live bacterias" in it?
 
#4 · (Edited)
OF2F, Pasfur is correct in that the sand comes technically pre-rinsed, but if you wanted to, you can pre-rinse (pre-soak actually) if you want. The safest way is to visit a shop that first and foremost has a "good" reputation and that sells premixed water. Buy a 5 gal jug (sometimes if you buy the jug they'll fill it for free) and use an xtra- large capture net and an empty 5 gal bucket. Gently scoop a full net of live substrate into the net, hold it over the bucket and gently pour the seeded water over the sand and let the water pour through into the bucket, then add the substrate to your tank immediately after. This is a time consuming way to do it, but it ensures minimal risk if any, in destroying any bio-life in the sand, AND doing it a scoop at a time will ensure that you get the majority of any substrate dust out of the sand. As PAsfur said, if it's quality sand it comes pre-rinsed, so it shouldn't be to heavy of a job to complete this last process and make sure you've got it as dust free as possible.

BTW, where are you in South NJ? I'll be in Sicklerville in about 3 weeks
 
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