Rinsing substrate (sand)

[justinakabob]

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 the advice

[Nic & Ric]

I found that what works quite well, and is easier than the pillow case approach was to put a few big cups of sand at a time into a big bowl, fill with water, stir it up really good and they pour the water out fast, stopping just before the sand's about to come out in the end. Then repeat as often as required. I would do this outside if you can though, as some of the sand is lost and you probably don't want that in your kitchen sink.

The stuff we bought from Home Depot was actually pretty clean, but it still needed to be rinsed 3 times before it became really clean. There's a fair bit of "scum" with the very first rinse, so I'd recommend doing it for sure.

Ric