Best way to let sand settle?

[Mach]

Just got my southdown sand into the tank. It caused some serious cloudy water conditions. Whats the best and fastest way to make the sand settle back down? Should I run my canister filter? I know this is pretty much a waiting game, but I plan on receiving my Liverock in a few days. Is it ok to add liverock in these cloudy water conditions? I am a newbie, and want to do everything right the first time. Any tips to clear this up?

Thanks,
Anthony

 

[alarmguy66]

Well it clears up the fastest if there is already a bacterial base to polulate it. I can stir up my sand and an hour later you cant even tell. Using a canister will help, but its gonna put a toll on your filtering ability. If its still cloudy when the rock comes I think adding the rock will actually help it settle. Other than that, waiting is the name of the game.

 

[jackdp]

The sand will settle in a few days, you can run a filter if you want, but in a new tank its not necessary. You can add the LR right into the cloudy water, the only downside is you can't see where you're putting it.

 

[Boxster]

It will settle down within days. Actually, to me a better way is to place the LR first, cycle the LR and siphon out the die off for a few weeks. A bare bottom is much easier to deal with for cleaning than with sand. Also the LR have better support on the tank glass than on the sand.
Then when the die off has subsided, put in the sand around it. Don't worry that you can't get the sand into the hard to reach area. Try the best you can and as time pass, the critters will do the job for you. After the sand storm has subsided, use your hands to wave off the sand on the LR. This is how I does mine. Patience is the key.

 

[Mach]

Thanks for the replies. I guess ill just wait it out. Ive learned that patience is the most important part of this hobby.

Thanks again

 

[scuba_steve]

i like to add base rock first then the sand then add the water real slow it took like 8 hours to fill my 90 but water was just milky at worst !!

 

[Mrbill]

Sounds like I'm just a couple weeks ahead of you. I asked this same question a couple weeks ago. My tank was terribly cloudy for about a week, and anytime I touched anything it clouded up again. I could not see my LR, let alone aquascape. But now it's settled down nicely and I have been able to set up my LR. Like alarmguy said above, my sand settles quickly if it's disturbed now that some bacteria has grown.