How to clean aquarium gravel that has been sitting awhile

Hey all,

I'm about to set up a 75 gallon tank and my uncle whose in a nursing home told me I could have all his old stuff. The tank was shot so I'm buying a new one. However I was going to use his gravel. It's been sitting since 2001 in the aquarium in his basement in a storage room. I hate using bleach on stuff in aquarium so I was going to boil water and clean it that way didn't know if that's over kill or not. when he stopped taking care of fish he left the water to evaporate so wasn't sure if that would be a big deal or not?

 

Hi,
I have old gravel sitting outside in the sun and rain . In my case I use a worm farm that has drainage. We get plenty of hot sun but only occasional rain . This is not the fastest way for you but if you have a suitable concrete area outside you can wash it with a hose as you kick it around over a few days.

This is one of the few times straight tap water is our friend. The chlorine in water is there to kill bacteria.

 

Hi,
I have old gravel sitting outside in the sun and rain . In my case I use a worm farm that has drainage. We get plenty of hot sun but only occasional rain . This is not the fastest way for you but if you have a suitable concrete area outside you can wash it with a hose as you kick it around over a few days.

This is one of the few times straight tap water is our friend. The chlorine in water is there to kill bacteria.

I should have said I was going to boil it since I have a large outdoor turkey fryer that will fit about a 5 gallon bucket worth at a time bin it. I was going to do something like you had suggested just don't have the room where I live for that

 

I dont think you need to clean it, maybe rinse some dust away. It wouldn't be any different from people who add dirt to their tanks

 

I have a friend in my local fish club that recently wiped out an established tank of rainbow fish by adding poorly rinsed second hand dirt substrate.

Our concussion is although he rinsed it he let it ferment in the bucket of old water for a few days before adding it to a tank with fish.

I just thought I would mention this recent episode.

 

I think you should at least rinse it in buckets or however you like but I don't think you need to boil it.

 

If it's not too much trouble you could use a strainer and do it in batches in the sink with hot water, then transfer it over to where you want it, that's what i did when i had to put my old gravel in my new tank.

 

If the tank was healthy nothing bad is in the gravel. If it was diseased then any germs, bacteria, viruses, etc are long dead. I see no reason to use bleach or anything besides fresh water... unless you suspect chemicals or solvents of some sort were allowed to enter the tank. Simply rinse away the dried up fish waste and skeletons and it's ready to go!

 

I have a friend in my local fish club that recently wiped out an established tank of rainbow fish by adding poorly rinsed second hand dirt substrate.

Our concussion is although he rinsed it he let it ferment in the bucket of old water for a few days before adding it to a tank with fish.

I just thought I would mention this recent episode.

Old substrate can be full of poop and very acidic decomposing organic matter... not necessarily a bad thing but I'd be cautious adding to existing tanks as it will turn into ammonia and foul the water

But in OP's case for a brand new tank, this is quite advantageous as it will jump start his cycle. All that dirt will eventually settle, and the ammonia can be monitored. His cycling period may be much faster using existing dirty substrate

 

I think 22 years sitting dry there wont be anything alive on it. Rinsing it in hot water should be sufficient.

 

You can reuse the gravel. It doesn't need to be boiled.

You do need to wash it out really good cold, hot, or lukewarm water it doesn't matter, to get it clean, then put it in the sun to dry, lay out some cut open trash bags as a tarp and spread it out. The sun will dry it out and the UV from the sun will kill off any bad organisms (bacteria) that might be there.

Then it's fine to use.

 

My procedure for cleaning dirty gravel:
I go outside with the hose. I also have a bucket and a spaghetti strainer. I'll pour a little bit of the gravel at a time into the the spaghetti strainer, then stop and hose that down while moving it with my hands to get all of it cleaned. The dirt and water will drain out of the spaghetti strainer, but most of the gravel will stay in it. Then once I'm done with that batch I'll pour the clean substrate into a bucket and repeat until I've done the whole amount. Then I'll hose down the sidewalk to get all the dirt off of it and into the grass. This can be done in the kitchen sink, too, but there will be more cleanup afterwards.