Best way to clean sand?

[phuture1]

Whats up guys. any tips on washing 100lbs of sand?
I got the sand from a fellow reefer fo free but it,s real dusty. I was thinking of putting a garder hose in a rubbermaid storage container and putting the sand on top of it. then i would turn on the hose and let it run in an attempt to let the water overflow and take the junk with it. wonder if it would work. what do you guys normally do? :?:

 

[Keaton]

I used a screening bag used for filtering paint. It can hold a bit of sand and it's fine enough that it doesn't let the argonite through. You can get them at paint stores, don't know if home Depot or Lowes will have them. Also if you have really fine sand I'm not sure if it'll work.

 

[yote]

I just put mine in a bucket,fill with water,stir,pour out dirty water,repeat untill all the waters clean.

 

[bobby]

+1 I do the same as yote.

 

[phuture1]

sounds good. thanks for the help..

 

[phuture1]

a little update. the sand is NG. saw some black swirls in it so i tested it with a magnet and it picked up metal fragments. im going to just buy some new.
perhaps you guys have some advice on swithing from CC to DSB in a tank that has been running with fish and LR in it??????

 

[Bifferwine]

Good catch with the metals. That would not have been pretty in a reef tank. Replace the crushed coral gradually, a little bit at a time. Some people just dump the sand on top, but that doesn't work because the smaller sand particles eventually make their way to the bottom, leaving the crushed coral on top again. So I'd recommend removing a little bit at a time (so you don't release too much gunk into the water). Start at one end of the tank and work your way down to the other end. It's a messy job, have all your filters running to clear the water up ASAP.

 

[bullitt21]

same as yote here.

 

[yote]

It'll help to get a strip of plexi-glass.That way you can keep the new sand and the CC separated.