SANDY SITUATION!?

Fresh250

Fresh250

Fishaholic
May 5, 2009
314
0
0
Massachusetts, USA
So my loving girlfriend helped me out with the tank last night, by putting in the 200lbs of playsand and 3 bags of pea gravel that i bought at the home depot... the catch, she didnt rinse it or anything so my tank is cloudy as sin, thankfully the fluval and all other filters were already off and all the fish/inverts had been transferred temporarily to a holding tank. My question is what to do now, im in process of doing a massive water change and thought i would type this up while that was draining, any idea/ pointers are much appreciated.
 
did you ask her to rinse it before putting it in?

what i would do: keep filters running and rinse out the filter pads as often as possible. keep stirring the substrate to get the particles to float and get caught by the filters...at the same time keep doing water changes.
 
When I added playsand to my 75g, I had to rinse it multiple times and drain the water before it stopped clouding up. I did it in small bits...filling a large mixing bowl about 1/2-3/4 full, and stirring the sand around in the water. Then, I let the water drain out of the bowl, and did that again.

I guess you could do that on a massive scale, filling the tank until water covers the sand/gravel by 2-3 inches, and just mix the heck out of it. Then siphon, and start again? I didn't bleach the sand or anything, but I did mix it with some Prime before adding it to the tank (to make sure there wasn't any "bad" water in there).

It's not rocket science, but it is tedious...good luck!
 
P.S...that's why my husband NEVER touches the tank or supplies...he knows zip about fish-keeping, exept for what he's seen me doing.
 
thanks guys, she doesnt usually want anything to do with it so i never even thought of giving her directions on how to do it, i havent even told her she did it wrong haha, just going to let her think she helped and do my water changes, hopefully all will end well.
 
I did the same thing with my 60 tank a year ago but it was course sand, even so I learned my lesson. You can do what I did by taking poly quilt cut to size and split down the middle for two thin layers for the Fluval or Magnum circumference filter. I would use the Magnum since its lighter to repeatedly clean out and run it until the outflow slows significantly then change out the poly pads as they will weigh about a pound each and be black. Use some cheap AP Crystal Cear (plant molasis) to bind the suspended particles so they stick to the filter.

With a tank your size it will take about a week and 2-3 clean outs of the Magnum filter but it will work and become crystal clear. As soon as it starts clearing better turn on your UV sterilizer 24/7 for the first 2 weeks because Diatom slime may bloom and its easier to control before it starts then after.

My magnum too a little beating up in the impeller from suspended particles but each time I cleaned it out it was fine it didn't hurt it still using it today works great.
 
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Yikes! We did pool filter sand in the 75 gallon, but rinsed it until it ran clear (and then some) in 5 gal buckets prior to adding to the tank. Even still experienced some slight cloudiness when we filled the tank the rest of the way up, but looks to have settled now. Not sure what will happen when the new filter gets hooked up, but hopefully it will not make too big of a mess. I like the idea that CWO gave - I may try that anyhow even though we rinsed first. Just in case. Wouldn't want to burn up the new (and expensive) filter!

Good luck with yours! Hope it cleans up easy!
 
How's it coming? :) Last time I had sand in an aquarium, I had to rinse it several times in a bucket. It eventually started getting sucked into the filter intake too much and I replaced it with gravel.

Any updates?
 
Fresh250 said:
thanks guys, she doesnt usually want anything to do with it so i never even thought of giving her directions on how to do it, i havent even told her she did it wrong haha, just going to let her think she helped and do my water changes, hopefully all will end well.
Click to expand...

I think this is a good idea. It's the thought that counts, right!!
 
Oh and just so you know before placing sand inside an aquarium I now always use a 35 gallon Rubbermaid trash can and rinse about 50 pounds at a time with a garden sprayer outside works way faster then a bucket. Just agitate with about 5 gallons then tip out the gray water again and again about 20-30 times for crystal clear water-sand, you will lose about 10% of the sand lost from silt rinse out though.

However your situation is different and you cannot tip an aquarium with wet sand over and over because you'll break the seals. I suppose you could agitate with a hose sprayer and then siphon out the silt with a vac attachment over and over again but that is going to be a wet job and very tedious not to mention running the risk of scratching the glass with all that sand activity going one between the hose agitation and vac wand.

I would either start over and remove the sand to a bucket or use the filter method I mentioned.
 
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