Why Wash Gravel

[TCLynx]

TCLynx, an interesting question was posed last night after you left. Why do we wash our grow medium? Everybody does it, but what does the little bit of dirt do that's so bad?

 

Well Sylvia started to answer that the answer was two fold, first to keep the tank water a little clearer in the beginning.

 

-The amount and method of media washing will depend on the media-

 

My Gravel tends to be sandy so swishing baskets of it in water usually works pretty good to remove most of the sand.

 

You don't want a think layer of sand in the bottoms of the grow beds as that will now allow very good flow of air or water through it.

 

If your gravel has clay in it, you really don't want that settling in your pipes, grow beds, sump tank, fish tank or anything.  Clay is often more easily dry sifted off before doing a we wash.

 

Pumps also don't do well sucking sand and it will wear them out quicker.

 

Some soils or clays in the media can also affect pH so you don't want too much of that to begin with.