cleaning sand....

[RiverReefer]

so my sand is a mess after the crash, I want to take it out and clean out all the detrius and decaying organic matter that has been in there...plan is to do this a small amount at a time daily removing the top layer and then adding another small amount that was removed the day before, trying to avoid a cycle.

I'm not 100% sure that the rock has lived and that I will not be getting a cycle but there definitely is still some life on the rock work, tube worms, some sponges (they look like their on their way out). My fish have been perfectly fine...no heavy breathing or signs of stress I believe the worst has passed....but anyway, I digress.

Will cleaning my sand like this http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-wash-sand-from-reef-aquarium-202674/ or with regular tap water add p04 or silicates to my sand that will then leach out later or add nutrients to my tank that could cause things such as diatoms or just high phos. levels...anyone have any suggestions as to what i should do before i rescape this tank and start the re-build? plan as of right now is:
a.sand in/out process that i just mentioned...
b.taking out some of the rock that is left in the tank now
c.picking up existing base rock and siphoning out any
detrius/organic matter below the base rock.
d.re-scape/sump setup/possible tank drill
c.re-stock

also i'm getting this sort of brown looking film on things that are directly in front of the power heads...anyone know what this is? its a dark brown almost maroon color that I sometimes saw on my powerhead before the crash but now i am noticing it on the rockwork...

 

[delta]

What is your time worth?

Been there done that it were me I would just buy new sand.

Otherwise lots of rinsing, bleach then dry it in your backyard. I started this and it just wasn't worth it

If the browns stuff looks like brown snot then its dino's

 

[RiverReefer]

yah its not dino's greg....I tend to think that it is the slime from the tube worms that had built up in the sand and started to encrust it it....chunky sand = no good....My tank is much smaller than yours and my sand bed is not that deep...I wasn't planning on bleaching. I was going to rinse it really good...lay it out on a tarp in my spare room and let it dry...then re-introduce, my biggest concern is avoiding a cycle because there are still fish in the tank as well as a GBTA, I dont want to move them and I dont want to wait for the tank to cycle I think with my sand bed size and my tank size i should be able to have the sand out and cleaned after 4 removals....I just want to know if it will absorb the P04 from the tap water or if it is ok to clean it with that

 

[delta]

IME, I have always rinsed my sand with tap water and never had an issue with PO4.

Don't forget to get some sand from a well established tank to seed it once put it back in. That will move things along alot faster.
For that matter it is good thing to do every once in a while anyways

Glad to hear it is not Dino's I would choose Cyano any day of the week