I think I made a mistake when I added sand

[RocketSeason]

Hey gang,

I think I made a mistake when I added my sand. It is day 2 and still very cloudy (milky) with no signs of going away. I dont think i rinsed the sand enough. (it is very fine sand.) I have been running my filter without any media content. should I add it now and let the extra cloudyness get caught up in it? I know that there will most definatly be very fine particulate still embeded in the sand. I assume that any attempts at vacuming the sand with animals in the tank will be disastorus. Is this a normal thing with fine sand? should I be worried? should I start over and re-clean the sand in a bucket? (the bag says that outside filtration will take care of the clowdiness but I am skeptical.
thanks.
-Matt
p.s. should I start my protien skimmer?

 

[luntiz]

You can throw in some activated carbon, works wonders! Or just wait it out.

 

[CBRGuy]

I took about 4 days for my tank to clear up. Once I got algae growing on the sand it stays down much better.

 

[Anemoneman]

Bacteria needs to be established in the sand bed. It will settle when the bacteria has surrounded individual particles. I assume your tnak is already cycled with livestock in it. Be patient. It will settle. Reducing the flow in your tank temporarily may help. Rinsing (or not) the sand is not an issue. The critters will not be bothered by the persistant sand storm. The main thing is not to worry. This happens to EVERYBODY when they add sand.

 

[Biggen]

The cloudiness will clear on its own. It took my tank approx 1 week to clear out and this was without rinsing the sand first.

I wouldn't start the skimmer yet as you won't really having anything to skim.

 

[luntiz]

Activated Carbon works for me...When I had a tank, my sandstorm went 3 days without a hitch of any signs of clearing up. The day I added the Carbon, the water cleared up overnight

 

[WarOrks15]

i whnt 3 day with no sign of it clearing up. then i turned on the skimmer. the skimmer took the dust out of the water. then i also added one of the poly pads. they work great. bu8t just wate it out.

 

[bckane]

Mine took about a week to start clearing up but the day I put my LR in it cleared up in hours............here a photo after a week.

HTH

I bought a HOB filter, and ran my skimmer to help clear up, took the HOB filter off after the water cleared

 

[RocketSeason]

I ended up running the micron filter that came with my Magnum 350. cleared up almost instantly! (but it ruined the filter.)

oh well, that filter isnt any good for reef tanks anyway!

 

[wahoo_drew]

I would of just let it sit, that fine sand is very good for the bacteria to live on but its ok that you cleaned it up with the filter, thats what I did to I just couldnt wait any longer. Do you have ph's to go in there? If you do put them in and turn them on because they will probobly casue another storm so might as well get it out of the way too