Nice Pics!
I did sort of the same thing when I added sand to my cichlid tank. I bought some silica sand from The Home Depot and a 5 gal bucket. I did it just a tad differently though. Instead of all of the sand in the bucket I did a little at a time, to be sure and get all of the nasty out. I would do a pitcher full of sand each time, fill the bucket with water while stirring the sand, then pouring the silt out. The whole process took a very long time (much like rinsing 1.57L of Black Diamond carbon), but was very much worth it. Was like $5 for 50 lbs and looked fantastic.
