I need some advice on a bucket of sand I have

J

JSB

I have some sand that has been in a bucket for probably a year. It's about 1/3 full and there is water in it from some base rock I placed in there for a short while. By the way the bucket was sealed this entire time. Would it be okay to use in my new setup? A couple of things I worry about. A) the base rock came out of my old tank, and I had started that tank with regular tap. Granted several RO/DI water changes had been made before I had put the rock in the the bucket. B) Could anything have gone bad from sitting for a year in a sealed bucket?

I'm leaning towards letting it dry out and then using it. What do you guys think?

Thanks!
 
I would wash it good and go ahead and use it.

Disclaimer:

If you think there is any copper etc in it, would toss and start over.
 
If it where me, I'd dry it out and rinse throughly. After being stealed in a bucket for over a year, there's no telling what kind of bacteria could have built up in there. Unless the bucket and lid where sanitized before usage.

Really though, It doesn't take much time for sand to become live sand once seeded. I REALLY would rinse, dry, then reuse.
 
I would have no problem using it as long as it is washed VERY thoroughly. The fact that it has been sealed shouldn't be an issue.

BigScott
 
It would probably be OK if it was rinsed and dried.

If you are not 100% sure it will be OK, is it really worth risking it for only a gallon or 2 of sand?

IMHO, I would toss it and get new sand. That amount of sand would only cost you about $30.00, or $5.00 if you go with something like pulverised limestone.
 
rinse the sands out until you can no longer smell the nasty ocean smell in it. Once you have that, let it sit in RO water for a day or two and the n you're good to go...
 
Unfortunately I have had a bad bought with sand that was sitting in water with a power head on it while changing tanks (2-3months). I have a thread on hear about loosing my tank inhabitants that way.....so from my experience I would make sure that there is no black substance in the sand and no foul smells..... if there is you will be advised to wash and dry thoroughly to get rid of all bad chemicals that have formed in the sand. If you can get them out, then you can use it. Be very causous...Apparent sand that has been sitting will give off poison gasses that you can not see.
 
I think I'm going to toss it. I bought some sand from the group buy. Thanks for all the advice, it was very informative.
 
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