Seting up new tank with sand

tha cichlid man

University Of South Central
Oct 23, 2005
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Los Angeles,Ca
Well Im almost finsh with my new setup It a 60gallon Im thinking about putting a couple of SA cichlids in there, anyways I painted the back black last night with BEHR premium plus deep base flat lamp black it looks real nice & today I builded my own stand out of 2><4's & a 3/4 inch piece of plywood on top of the stand. Now with the sand I used Quickrete premium play sand. I rinse it out(bucket was a little less then 1/2 full) for about 10 min & it looked clear when I finsh rinsing but when I put the sand in then added a little water it got real cloudy it's only about 2 inches of water because I need to go to lowe's & get some more so do you think when I start up my filters(2 aqua clear 70/300) after I finsh adding my sand & fill the tank up with water and letting the sand settle will this cloudyness affect my filter?
 
if its sand and you rinsed it well it should be all right.. just lift up the filter intake, not so close to the bottom
 
I find it most effective (but tedious) to rinse small amounts at a time. With a smaller amount (3-5 lbs) you can really mix it well to be sure the fine particles are removed. IME, aquaclears don't remove the really fine dust you will be dealing with.

If it was mine, I would take the time and rinse better before it goes in.
 
I'm the guy who will consistently chime in on sand threads because I found an amazing sand. It's Quikrete medium grade. All of the pieces are uniform, no dust or clay, already washed and baked to be sterile and I tested it to be inert. Probably the best sand substrate I could have ever found and only 5 bucks for fifty pounds. I would never recommend play sand now that I know this stuff is around.

 
I agree echo..best sand out there!


When using sand try to keep the intake about 4 inches or so off the sand bed.I also use a sponge I hollow out the middle and place it over the intake.After a few months or so when all the finest particles are gone you can remove them.
 
Thank for the info I guess I will start to fill the tank up with water & turn on the filters and start with the cycling :coffee2:
 
Sure, it'll be like the sponge. You're just trying to prevent to much sand from getting to the impreller.
 
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