Rinsing substrate

justinakabob

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Jul 20, 2003
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I have decided for my planted tank substrate to go with a play sand and aquarium gravel mix. I was wondering what would be the most efficient way to rinse the excess dust off. And to rinse the sand I did it before for my 50-gallon breeder tank by using a pillow case and I’m just wondering is there a better way to do it, or even do I need to rinse the sand? (I know I do with the gravel)

Thank you for your help
 
I have always used a 5 gal. paint strainer($1.50 at Home Depot) and fit it around the top of a 5 gal(surprise) bucket with holes in the bottom. Throw in a few lbs. at a time an let the garden hose rip. If you set the bucket on something white or light colored you can see when it runs clean and replace the clean with the dusty and do it all again. I've rinsed 80lbs. of Flourite clean in half an hour with this method. But heck, I guess pillow case would work too.
Yes, I would definitely rinse the sand. Hope it's not really fine sand. Fine sand tends to compact over time which is not good for plant's roots.
Len
 
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