techman81
Valuable Member
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 size would probably work well. 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. 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
.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 size would probably work well. 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. 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
