Cleaning second hand sand

[haddock]

Hi,

I am setting up a 40g tank.

I have been given second hand sand from a friends tank as she no longer keeps fish. I would like to use this as it will mean I won't have to rinse it as much as new sand.

The thing is along with other bits and bobs, she gave me a box of lots of medications so I suspect that the demise of her tank may have been due to disease.

So, my question is, can I wash the sand in declorinated water with a bit of bleach and then rinse it before putting into my tank. Or is that silly?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[GTP2002]

I would imagine not, bleach is very harmful, and I would imagine would kill your fish.

However, I am still kinda new, maybe not. It's my natural assumption however.

 

[astroboy]

boiling water will do the job fine

 

[Inchworm]

Hi haddock

For your own good and that of the fish, please throw that sand away! Cleaning it, especially if you use bleach, will be more work than spending a mere $3 for a bag of play sand and starting from scratch will ever be.

I'd toss the medicine too, since if it is outdated, it will be of little use.

 

[Matty]

Never use bleach or other household cleaning products for aquarium purposes

 

[astroboy]

Never use bleach or other household cleaning products for aquarium purposes

people use a weak bleach solution to clean a lot thats aquarium intended

 

[lighter]

I agree, its very hard to make sure that you dont have any bleach left when you put them in the tank, just use boiling water to disinfect the sand.

 

[haddock]

Thanks for your replies - thats sorted then, I will buy new sand.