coralife205

Im about to set up my 150 gallon. however, when im done rinsing the substrate, i was wondering if i could put it in the tank with out any water and let it dry. its not that i want to let it dry, its just i want to play around with the look of it, with my driftwood and rocks just to get an idea and see what i like. it will take a few days to do....sooo my qustion is, will the substrate go bad if it drys?


also, when i rinse it, can i use tap water? im cautious about that because of the chlorine....

Veloth

Mine has dried several time with no apparent harm. I have well water so chlorine is not a problem for me but as long as you put something like Prime in the tank when you fill it I don't think it would be a problem.

northtexasfossilguy

It really can't "go bad" as far as rusting or any sort of change very quickly, unless you heated it up to at least 150*F. I think washing it probably killed most, if not all, the bacteria that were in it, so in that respect it doesn't matter either. Dirt really doesn't ever go bad. The minerals change form, that takes a good amount of heat or a long period of time of oxidation and dissolution from acids like rainwater.