Foggy Water In New Tank

H

HkySk8r187

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Oct 18, 2004
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Just came across this great forum. Here's the deal...

I'm an animal trainer, but new to fish and decided to get a saltwater tank going. I went to a local aquarium store that seemed to have knowledgeable people working and they sold me a 30 gallon tank, and live sand. I put the sand in and filled the tank using water from the sink (they said this would be fine). I put in the salt I got from the fish place and measured the salt levels with my meter, they seem to be fine. I installed the skimmer and it seems to be working ok.

The water is very foggy, I can hardle see through to the other side of the tank that is only a foot and a half or so away. It appears that there are these tiny tiny particles floating around, however they may be microbubbles, I have no idea. How do I make the water clear? Is this normal when setting up a new tank and putting water in? Should I run the skimmer or leave it off for now? Any help is appriciated. Thanks.

Also, if it matters...there is a powerhead and heater also installed, and nothing else in the tank other than the live sand.
 
How long has it been set up? A cloud from sand is really common, and usually will settle out in a few days.
 
Probably been 24 hours now since I set it up. I'm not sure if it is sand in the water or not, but it is defenatly a whiteish merky color with lots of small particles or air in the water.

Should I run the skimmer or let it sit for a while?
 
How are you cycling the tank? This will determine if you want the skimmer running or not. Sand can take 3-4 days to completely settle out--as long as the PH and pump aren't disturbing the substrate, running them will make thi shappen faster. You can try turning the skimmer off for 12 hours and see if there is a decrease in the amount of bubbles--not unheard of for skimmers to release micro-bubbles. Most often, it means the skimmer needs to be adjusted, or that tubing has a lot of trapped air bubbles, which will often work themselves out over time.
 
I'm not sure what you mean about cycling the tank. Here is everything that I have done...

1) I put the live sand into the bottom of the tank
2) Filled the tank using sink water (not sure if this was a good or a bad thing)
3) Noticed the water was not very clear
4) Added salt into the water
5) Added my heater, skimmer, and powerhead.
6) 24 hours later (skimmer ran for about 5 hours) the water is still very foggy.
 
Tank should clear up shortly once everything settles, but by the sequence of events it sounds as if you probably killed all the bacteria in your "live sand."
 
Sorry, forgot to explain why it would be dead. Normally, atleast I would think it would be better to first add freshwater, add salt and reach desired SG and remain stable for a day or two, then add live sand once everything seems stabilized.
 
That makes sence. I also forgot to mention that after I added the water (and before adding salt) I added the water sanitizer stuff that is supposed to get rid of bacteria in the water.

If the stuff in the live sand is dead, how bad of a thing is that and what should I do about it?
 
I'm guessing you bought the "live" araganite sand from the petshop. If so, it shouldnt be bad if it is dead as it is just bacteria and not small critters that may cause a super ammonia spike. The only negative i see is that you spent a lot of money on sand that you could have just purchased Hpome Depot sand for a lot cheaper. Even if the ammonia does spike, no fish will be harmed as long as it is empty. The live aragonite will probably smell like rotten eggs if it is in fact dead.
 
Its best to pre-mix the water and the salt before putting it into the aquarium, and its less work. If you use Tap water, it has Chlorine in it, which is mandatory to treat city water in order to kill harmful bacteria, so a sanitiser isnt needed, just a de-chlorinator.

As for live sand, it isnt really need as its basically sand with a bacteria culture in it, which you can grow yourself using ordinary play sand and then providing a source of ammonia to feed the bacteria, which produces a source of Nitrites for another type of bacteria, and then produces Nitrates for bacteria that live in low-oxygen areas, which is referd to as a Cycle (short for the Nitrogen Cycle)
 
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