Rinse and Repeat

[JayP]

OK, I know most folks here know how to rinse inert substrate before putting it in their tanks. I also know their are hard ways to do things and easy, or at least easier, ways to do things. Since I was doing a little rinsing today, I thought I'd share my process. I'm all ears for better ways. Today, we are rinsing BDBS . For those that say you don't need to rinse it, we probably can't be friends .

Tools: Three 5 gallon buckets, Stainless steel mesh sifter (details follow), Outdoor hose with sprayer (yes, do this outside) I use the shower setting on the sprayer.

Sifter details: One of my other passions is minerology and rock collecting. As such, I've made a few trips to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. A common way to hunt for diamonds in the open fields is to use sifters such as those listed HERE. The sifters for that work are typically too course of mesh for what we need for substrate rinsing, although, there is a finer mesh sifter available at the link. I haven't tried it but the 1/30 to 1/50 size would probably work well depending on substrate grain size ( I use medium BDBS so the 1/50 might be best for that). I used a much courser sifter I already had, but I also had some #40 mesh stainless steel sheet that I just cut to fit one of my "pans" and hot glued it in. #40 mesh works great for the .42mm to 1.6mm medium grit. Of course, you can also make your own sifter, but what's nice about these, is that they sit perfectly in the top of a 5 gallon bucket, not by coincidence .

So, pour in some raw substrate, just not too much, we don't want it flying out of the pan when the water hits it, and we don't want it too thick or it will take extra time to rinse thoroughly.

I find that with the shower spray up close to the pan, the BDBS is well rinsed after one pass of less than 40 seconds. After rinsed, let it drain. I find lifting it out of the bucket and tilting it to drain to one side for a minute, suffices. Dump it in your "rinsed" bucket....and done!

OK, now I have 4 more bags of BDBS to rinse. This stuff may be more stable and predictable than aquasoil, but I don't have to rinse the aquasoil.






View attachment BDBS Rinse.mp4

 

[BranchScape]

This is a nice setup with the sifter and better than what I do. Have a link to where you bought the sifter?

I always put it in the 5 gallon bucket. Then slot the sprayer to the bottom of the substrate in the bucket and angle the spray up. It will then make the lightest particles float over the top and then I stir it every minute or so until nothing floats up. Then I am done, rinse repeat.

 

[JayP]

This is a nice setup with the sifter and better than what I do. Have a link to where you bought the sifter?

I always put it in the 5 gallon bucket. Then slot the sprayer to the bottom of the substrate in the bucket and angle the spray up. It will then make the lightest particles float over the top and then I stir it every minute or so until nothing floats up. Then I am done, rinse repeat.

In my post; ......is to use sifters such as those listed HERE. The blue highlighted "HERE" is the link to the sifters on Amazon. Without physically seeing it, I imagine what is called 1/30 would be OK for a slightly coarser grit substrate, but 1/50 would probably be close to the #40 mesh I'm using to sift medium grit BDBS . I updated my post to clarify this.

 

[GreggZ]

For those that say you don't need to rinse it, we probably can't be friends .

LOL and I was hoping to be your friend!

I've used a lot of it over the years and have never once rinsed it. Slice open the bag and dump it in. In a few hours it's crystal clear.

 

[JayP]

LOL and I was hoping to be your friend!

I've used a lot of it over the years and have never once rinsed it. Slice open the bag and dump it in. In a few hours it's crystal clear.

Well I can't speak to BDBS yet, but with Fluorite, I didn't rinse very thoroughly, and what resulted was crazy cloudy water every time I disturbed it for maintenance. I admit, I may be a bit obsessive on such things though. I'm also a bit of a neat freak according to my friends but I don't see it.

 

[BranchScape]

In my post; ......is to use sifters such as those listed HERE. The blue highlighted "HERE" is the link to the sifters on Amazon. Without physically seeing it, I imagine what is called 1/30 would be OK for a slightly coarser grit substrate, but 1/50 would probably be close to the #40 mesh I'm using to sift medium grit BDBS. I updated my post to clarify this.

No idea how I missed this, thanks for reposting.

 

[BranchScape]

Well I can't speak to BDBS yet, but with Fluorite, I didn't rinse very thoroughly, and what resulted was crazy cloudy water every time I disturbed it for maintenance. I admit, I may be a bit obsessive on such things though. I'm also a bit of a neat freak according to my friends but I don't see it.

Flourite dust is insane, I thought I had rinsed it thoroughly for a 20 gallon long. way back in 2009 or 10. At fill up it still got insanely cloudy and I went through an inordinate amount of filter floss to get the suspended particles out. I haven't used it since.

 

[JayP]

Follow-up. I decided to buy the 1/30 and 1/50 sifter pans on Amazon to see which worked best for medium grit BDBS. The 1/30 works great. In fact, it works better than the #40 SS mesh I was using.

 

[Phish Tank]

I am always trying to minimize lugging gravel around.

I throw my gravel in a 5 gallon bucket, point the garden hose in, fill and stir. Then I shove a siphon hose down to the bottom and start the siphon to drain the water. Then I restart filling water with the hose and keep stirring things up. So I'm filling and draining at the same time. Keep that going until water runs clear.

Because I'm extra lazy, I put the bucket in my gorilla cart while rinsing, so once it's rinsed, I wheel it indoors right to the tank.