please help newbie!! please!

[wigglejaggles]

Hey Now all,

thanks for putting up with all of my questions, I know it must seem I am really anal about it all, but I just want to do everything right so I have a very succesful first aquarium. Ok...I have a 10 gallon all glass. Tonight I set everything up. I first rinsed out the tank, then I wiped it off. I then put onxy sand in a pillow case about have the bag about 7.5 pounds. I am in a dorm so I had to be creative in how I rinsed it out. I went to a shower stall and filled up with water and then shook the pillow case. I did this until the water coming out of the bottom of the pillow case was basically clear. I did this twice. I then filled up the onxy sand in the aquarium. Higher in the back and sloping down to the front. I then placed my 50watt ebo jager horizontaly in the back center of the tank. I then placed an aquaclear 200 filter on the back right. Now it was time to fill it up with water. I did five gallons at a time and poured water over a plastic plant.
ok now here is my problem! please help me. Ok I was told that the onxy sand would make the water cloudy and take 2-12 hours to settle. Its been about 10 minutes and I cant even see to throught o the back....is this normal? did I rinse well enough? If i didnt rinse well enough will it always be cloudy??
I didnt plug the heater in because i want to wait till its clear enough so I can see the light to know that it is working, but I did try the aquaclear. I reall ythought I assembled it right, so I plugged it in and it made a noise, and then I looked and no water was flowing through...after 5-10 seconds I unplugged it. Did I do something wrong? Does it take about a minute to prime? Ithought it would work right away. The directions to assemble it were really bad, but I am positive I assembled it right.

ok if you could helpme out with the aquaclear 200 filter, and teh cloudy water I would be grateful!!

thanks so much!

take care,
Jared

[Matt W]

I would just give the water some time to clear...it will settle down. It is probably best to not run the filter until it settles...

As for the filter, I find that I need to pour some water at the base of the intake inside the filter to get them started.....

[Leopardess]

Well, it will be okay to turn the heater on. Just pull it out for a second to see if the light comes on.

I'd personally turn the filter on. It will settle a lot quicker, trust me. If it were me, I'd also do a couple of nearly complete water changes to get more of the sediment out. If you are concerned about the filter sucking sediments, go down the hall and find a girl thats willing to give you a pair of nylons, then attach it over the filter intake (apparently I'm assuming you're not a girl...don't know why lol).

And yes, generally you need to open the lid of the filter and fill it with water (after turning the filter on) and let it fun for a few seconds to prime itself. Then viola, good to go.

And if you do some water changes to hurry up the process, find a cup or bowl or plate and place that over the sand - then pour the water onto it to displace the water gently.

Good luck:)

[aquariumfishguy]

I believe you answered your own question by saying it can take hours to settle...in some cases, to begin to settle. So I wouldnt worry much about that.

...and for the filter...I wouldnt let it run dry like that. Its probably not good to do that. So do like Matt said and add water to the top inside of it to start it. And I've kept AC's for over 10 years now so they are great filters. Good luck!

[blitzen25bm]

your pillowcase was probably too tightly woven to let out a lot of the dust. next time just put some in a big bowl and run it under water while stirring. will take longer but it will get rid of a lot of the smaller pieces

[wigglejaggles]

Hey everyone,

thanks for your thoughts and info. you guys made me feel better. Its been about four hours and the the water is still cloudy as anything, but I am gonna go to bed and not worry about it. thanks for the filter tip! Man...this forum is the best!

thanks!

take care,
jared

[aquariumfishguy]

Ok....its day 2....and you haven't reported with us yet!

[wigglejaggles]

hey now,

here is the report. I just woke up and it is now 1:15pm. The water went in the tank last night at 9:30pm. So its been about 16 hours, and I can now just see through to the back and make out the heater.
Should I get rid of some of this cloudy water? I def see progress. Should I sit tight and be patient, or do some water changes?

thanks,
Jared

[tricksterpup]

Jared,
I would not worry to much on the sand and dust. It will settle after a few days and you will have clear water. This is fine and normal. You will not need to do water changes or mess with your water. Just go out and have a good time, not worry about your tank for a few days. Let it clear and then you can go to your next phase on your tank. No need to rush things, if you want things done right, take your time. In a few weeks, your tank should be running smoothly with the way you want it.


jim

[wigglejaggles]

Hey everyone,

Jim, just as you posted my girlfriend and I were emptying all the water out of the tank! I couldn't take how cloudy it was, and how much foam scum was floating on the top. I realize now that I did not rinse the the onyx as well as i should have. After scooping all the sand out and putting it in a 5 gallon big al's bucket i went into the dorm showers and after preparing myself to be wet, I turned on the shower and as the water came pouring down into the bucket I got on my knees and started to stir the sand with my hand...then i dumped the dirty water out....then i repeated the process about 15-20 times. It was quite a scene actually...haha onyx clay water all over the shower room floor....my oh my. Well...when that ordeal was done and after placing the sand back in my newly rinsed out tank I then took a nice hot shower, went and ate dinner. I came back with a styrofome bowl. I poured the water into the bowl, and this worked wonderfuly folks! My tank is now hardly cloudy at all, almost clear really!!! Its amazing. So I def learned a few lessons here which all newbies should take note. When dealing with onyx sand....RINSE WELL and never just pour the water directly onto the sand...use a bowl!!!

Thank you all very much for the tips, and the tips worked perfectly, and Jim if only I read your message 15 minutes earlier....hahaha oh well...I am very pleased with the turn out!

thanks again all!

take care,
jared