need help with sand

[Mrakio]

My dad just gave me all his old aquarium stuff (he used to have it setup for saltwater). Anyhow I am trying to set it up, and I added some sand from lowes, but the water is BLACK... I did two complete water changes, but it is still black with a foam on the surface... 8O Any advice here??? Should i drain it and use CC?

 

[loganj]

sand

I wouldn't drain it and use CC. What kind of sand did you use? A lot of the construction grade sand is not suitable for aquarium use. If you want to use sand, get some play sand. Use either Yardright or Southdown from Home Depot. Or, still better than CC, would be some Carib Sea Seaflor special grade reef sand. The Carib Sea is kinda pricey though.
Logan J

 

[fishfreek]

Dont look for "southdown" sand. Your in the north west so you wont find it as its a north east product. You might find 'yardright' sand.

When you say your tank is black do you mean the litral color black or just that the tank is clouded up with sand particles.

 

[Mrakio]

Thanks for the replies. I used an all purpose sand but it looks more like soil... I meant the water was so dirty, it looked like a bog...I will try the play sand instead. Where can I buy live sand too?
Thanks