Sand based tank

[MikeO]

I just got myself a new 10 gallon tank, I want to put up another betta tank, for this tank I decided to try with sand, I will not be putting any betta in till Thursday (I will be seeding the tank with live plants from my 20 gallon tank for bacteria) I figure I will put the plants in tomorrow (so the water will decoronate by then) my question is right now the water is all cloudy from the sand that was kicked up as I filled it, how long till I can see though the water. I also just put a new batta in a 3rd 10 gallon tank that I had sitting there for 2 weeks, still have named him. I am hoping that the next betta I am going to get (I hope next Thursday) will be a female.

 

[wataugachicken]

what did you do with the sand before you put it in the tank? did you just pour it right in and add water on top of it?

 

[bdobosz]

When I did sand it took about 24 hours for the bulk of it to settle. Then over the next few days the rest fell.

 

[MikeO]

I just dumped it in.

 

[jaylin]

Hehehe .... oh, I should talk because I made the same error, but the best thing you can do with that sand is to stir that tank back up again, siphon all the cloudy water out, fill the tank, stir, siphon, fill, stir siphon ... you get the idea.

You won't get it all the way clean but you can save yourself the headache of having a totally cloudy tank every time you mess with the water if you repeat that process a few times. If you're using an HOB filter, all the silty stuff will collect up in your filter too. Then when you go change the filter (or bump it a little bit) it will put all that stuff right back into the water unless you have something to catch that water as it's coming out of the filter.

You're early in the process, I'd take the time now to rinse that sand off really well and clean out any filters you have on the tank. Sure it might be a few more days before you get your fish but ...

If only I'd known ...

 

[MikeO]

Well I don't think future water changes are going to be so bad, I will be putting a lot of plants in the new tank, my 20 gallon community tank's plants all need to be trimmed down again, and I could make the new 10 gallon tank over planted to the point where the sand will never have water disturb it when I change it, and the plants when the new roots develop should help keep with "erosion" from the "rain" fall. The first few changes might present a problem, but I probably can use my hand to direct the water into a calmer fall when I pour it for the first changes.

 

[thesydmonster]

For future reference, and what Jaylin is trying to suggest, is that you should always rinse your sand before you put it in your tank. Now that it's in there, it is probably still pretty dirty. Be careful that the filter doesn't get sand into it.

 

[Jericho]

Yeah take the time to drain off the dirty water and rinse and repeat. This will save your filter, if the silt gets into the filter it will grind on the impellor. It is probably easier on the fish in the long run.

 

[MikeO]

With the betta tanks, I don't use a filter persay, I have cut a hole in a filter spong and just use that as a filter. I will admit my bettas seam to do well, and I also use lots and lots of live plants for the fish tanks.

 

[wataugachicken]

might be best to take out most of the water, and dump the sand into a 5 gal. bucket. stick a hose down into the bottom and turn it on, let it run until the water is completely clear. the process itself might be a pain, but it will be much easier in the future and really it only takes ten minutes.