Cleaning and saving sand -MACNA

[blmurphy1982]

So I bought my tank this weekend at MACNA and was given the option of leaving the sand in the tank. It was a brand new bag of Carib sea live black sand and only used for those few days.

 

My question is could I wash and save the sand for when I set up my tank and if so what would be the best method.

 

If I must toss it, no big loss, but figured why waste something that was essentially new.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Matt LeBaron]

If you keep the sand damp it will stay live and be good to go. I don't really think you'd need to wash it at all, was only used for 3 days.

[tom39]

There is probably not much to clean from the sand since it was used for such a short time. But if it was me, I would give it a quick rinse with the garden hose and let it out to dry. I just would not want to take the chance, just to save a few minutes of work.

[Origami]

Don't worry about reusing it. If it was new sand to start with (and it very likely was), it's not had much time to become "live" and you're unlikely to have much in the way of organics that could cause an ammonia spike or other problems. A quick rinse to remove any foreign stuff might be advised, but hardly necessary if you're just starting a new tank.