Preparing SD sand for tank

[harlequinnut]

I just got 4 bags of Southdown playsand and I want to know how to prepare the sand to be place in the tank or do I need to do anything at all? Thanks.

 

[qwiksilver360]

most peolpe just dump it in beacause if you rinse it you loose a lot of the fine silt which is something you want in there you should also seed the southdown sand with some ls to get it kickstarted

 

[thomas712]

I also recommend not rinsing the sand. Now I don't know about southdown crystalizing in an existing tank, and honestly I don't think I would worry to much about it. However pre seasoning is not a bad idea at all for your sand. Still a bit of a mess and all but it would help keep the extended cloudiness down.
Thomas

 

[scottnj]

I just did my 55 last week, and put in about 50 lbs of sand, and then added some live sand from the old tank, and another bag of SD. (Which gave me about a 4-5 inch bed)
When I filled the tank with water I put down some sheets of seran wrap which worked good and really kept the clouding to a minimum and only took about two days to clear.
-Scott

 

[bheron]

so, for a brand new tank, is it safe to say that plain old Tropical Play Sand (from Old Castle) can go right into the new tank straight from the bag?

 

[bheron]

kip, i'm starting over and i want to do everything right, even if it means to take the axtra time.
please elaborate on how this will benefit my system in the long run (versus just dumping the sand into saltwater in the tank)

 

[bheron]

kip,
thanks. i read up on "aquaculturing". i saw bangguys post too.
it looks like alot of the points are directed at established tanks.
if mine is new, wont it get the proper "coating" once the tank cycles?

 

[bheron]

got it. thanks for the direction!