Sand Problems

[Habaceeba]

I washed the sand with an old pillow case. I knew it wasn't going to come completely clean, so I put it in the tank anyway. I filled the tank up with water yesterday knowing that the water was going to be muddy. Today it is cloudy, but getting clearer. I went ahead and started the filter to try to clear it up a little. I don't plan on doing anything else until the water clears up. My question is: is the water going to clear up? Or am I an idiot for using this kind of sand that will never come clean?

[VoodooChild]

It will clear up, though it'll probably take a couple more days. Just make sure that you rinse your filter media often (like once a day or more). That should help. I'm curious, how come you've decided to use sand? Rays?

[NJ Devils Fan]

Rinsing the media won't do much being that the dust is going to settle on everything, like back on the sand itself and decorations. What I did was after my water wasn't cloudy anymore, I put my gravel vac right into the sand and the all the dust came up, not the sand itself.

[Woozledad]

I strained my sand really well to remove the really small particles, but my tank was crystal clear in less than 24 hours. Of course, I was super extra special careful not to disturb the sand when replacing the water....I placed a peace of cardboard on the sand and then a small saucer on the cardboard and added the water VERY slowly, but I didn't want a bunch of sand in my filters... Of course, I'll be adding plants tonight for the first time, so ask me tomorrow how cloudy the tank is, lol....:rolleyes:

[Habaceeba]

I'm using sand because I'm tired of gravel, and it's going to be a cichlid tank. The sand I am using is straight from creek bed right after a huge flood had passed. I knew when I put it in the tank it was going to be muddy, but I tested a sample of it a few days before in a bucket, and it cleared up without any filtration in about two days. I'm hoping the same will happen on a larger scale in the tank. Thank you all for your replys.

[serjuanca888]

Ive had sand in my reef aquariums take a week to settle down. After bacteria colonize on the sand, it weighs alot more and will not get blown around or anything. If you added an established filter or some established gravel in a nylon bag it would speed up the process.