How Long After Mixing Saltwater Does The Sand Go In?

[DanMan092]

Hey, we're at the point where we have enough RO water to fill the tank and sump, all plumbing is ready, and we have the salt and sand. How long should we wait after mixing the Reef Crystals? Should we put the sand in a few minutes later? It is Nature's Ocean Live Aragonite Sand.

 

[superman]

mix in the saltwater to your RO water (outside of tank) and airate for about 12 hours (this is to let the buffers in the salt dissolve and that a good oxygen level is present) Then after testing (ideally with a refractometer, but hydrometer is ok) the water at tropical temp 78-80F you can add the saltwater to the tank. Of course if you are just starting the tank out with no live critters at all (no live rock, live sand, no chance of living creatures) then go ahead and dump the RO water in the tank, throw the sand in, and throw salt in (a little at a time to insure that you will not overshoot your salinity target) Then just sit back and wait for the sand to settle and salinity to hit the mark you are looking for.

 

[DanMan092]

Should I rinse the live sand? My dad says he heard you should somewhere. I guess to get any preservatives off, but would that rinse off the bacteria?

 

[superman]

How long has the live sand sat? If it smells like rotten eggs then you will have to rinse it, if it just came out of mature tank then you should be able to put it right into the tank without rinsing. If this is the"live sand" that you bought from the store then you can just put it in the tank. If it is just dry sand that you bought in a bag then you will have to rinse it.

 

[DanMan092]

It's nature's ocean. We put the RO water in the tank and added salt. We had to make a bit more overnight, so the rest of the sand is not fully dissolved. We have two small pumps in the tank to aid the dilution (heh) so when the salt is completely dissolved, just throw the sand in? Or should we airate the water? We currently do not have any heaters for it, would that make much of a difference? The temps a bit low (about 70) We are going to get two small heaters. Is it okay to put the sand in?

EDIT We have not opened the sand yet. 3 of the bags expire Dec. 15 2006, and one Oct. 15 2006.

 

[superman]

It's nature's ocean. We put the RO water in the tank and added salt. We had to make a bit more overnight, so the rest of the sand is not fully dissolved. We have two small pumps in the tank to aid the dilution (heh) so when the salt is completely dissolved, just throw the sand in? Or should we airate the water? We currently do not have any heaters for it, would that make much of a difference? The temps a bit low (about 70) We are going to get two small heaters. Is it okay to put the sand in?

EDIT We have not opened the sand yet. 3 of the bags expire Dec. 15 2006, and one Oct. 15 2006.

The reason I say to heat the water to tropical temps is because I am guessing you are using a hydrometer as your means of testing slainity. Hydrometers are very dependant on temp, so make sure you are testing the water at the same temp that you will be keeping livestock in. The pumps should airate the water enough, so no air pump should be needed. So you did buy live sand in bags, go ahead and dump it in after the salt has completely dissolved and the salinity is correct.