[generaltang]

i just got a 125g tank from a friend who downsized (i'm moving on up from 55g). he gave me his sand, i have no idea of the weight, but it was only about 1 1/2" or 2" covering the bottom. something came up and it ended up sitting nn my basement floor in a garbage can covered by an inch of standing water since saturday morning. i'm pretty sure it's not live anymore because of the smell i walked into this morning. now, because of this something that came up, i have to leave my place in the next 4 weeks. not really enough time to set it up,lol! i also want to break down my 55, put my fish into a 20g long (1 arc-eye hawk, 1 ornate wrasse, 2 yellow tail damsels, and 1 false percula) and send my brain corals, and slipper tongue to a foster home, until i set my 125 up at my next house which will be much more permanent. i really don't have the time right now to do my weekly water changes and pay attention to the needs of the coral. anyway, back to the sand. is it possible to run a protein skimmer with the stinky sand, like curing rock, and add my 55g sand to it. would this salvage the stinky sand and at the same time keep my 55 sand live? i am also going to throw in a heater and bubble strip. i'm hoping to have minimal (hopefully none) set-up time when i set the new tank up.

[Taras1]

I'd think the big problem at this point would be toxins building up and killing any thing that would try to cycle the sand. I might start out using a garbage can or two to really rinse the sand out well with several water changes. It'd be like rinsing new gravel or sand.