sand storm.............

CHARD

CHARD

AC Members
Feb 9, 2005
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i put 180lbs(3-60lb bags) of sand in my 125 gallon... I rinsed it the best I could...When I filled it up, it was really cloudy..I had my 203 running all night..No change.. I got my 403 up and running today.... And will have my 303 running tomorrow.. I have both powerheads in the water also... It's very cloudy... SHould I take the powerheads out for now? Im thinking I should leave em in... So it can stir up any loose debris in the water...

How long should this take??


Looking for info from other folks with a sandy substrate please....
Thankx.....
 
A lot depends on what rinsing it "the best you could" literally means. What are the powerheads attached to? When I put my sand in the water was cloudy a little at first for a few days, but I suspected it was a bacterial bloom common in new tanks. What kind of mechnical filtration do you have in those cansiters?
 
I think if you turn everything off and just let it settle down for a couple days it will go away.
 
Next time put the sand in first, then put down a plastic bag and pour the water on it slowly. Your tank will be cloudy for a while. Just let it sit.
 
Harlock said:
A lot depends on what rinsing it "the best you could" literally means. What are the powerheads attached to? When I put my sand in the water was cloudy a little at first for a few days, but I suspected it was a bacterial bloom common in new tanks. What kind of mechnical filtration do you have in those cansiters?
Click to expand...


The powerheads are not attached to anything...

In the canisters are A sponge/ carbon/ and these white block things.. Sorry I dont know what type of material it is..

I have the cabon in the middle and the sponge on top...Does that make a diff?
 
I have used sand 3 times ever, and each time I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed, so on and so forth until the water ran crystal clear. This last time I spent several hours cleaning 7 gallons of sand 1 gallon at a time. I dumped it in to a full tank of water, it settled to the bottom and the water was 100% perfect and clear in a few minutes. If you have no fish in the tank keep stirring it up until it stops making the water cloudy. I personally would remove the sand and start over.
 
In the saltwater forum they tell you to let it sit with no circulation until the cloudiness goes most of the way down. Let me know how it turns out, I plan to use sand on my big tank.
 
When I put the sand in my 30g I did no rinsing at all (I don't recomend do that again). I did this because the bag said it was rinsed and cleaned, but it was WAY wrong! I found sticks rocks and all sorts of good stuff in it. I let it sit overnight with my filter (with pre filter( on low, and and it was somewhat better by morning, but still very dirty. After about a week of 50% water changes every day, it's clear as a glass now.
 
Keep the powerheads running--particulates fall out of moving water faster than they do standing water. The small grains are acutally very valuable--they provide better media for the bacteria than the larger grain sizes (surface area: volume). This is true in SW as well--I don't rinse sand for my salt tanks, I just take precautions to prevent it from being agitated (ie, don't aim a powerhead at it), and let it settle on it's own.
 
Keep both power heads running? How long does it have to cycle before I can add Red bellies?
 
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