Cleaning Sand

[Thumper]

I'm setting up my first tank and read several books and read tons on the net about it and asked lots of questions from the dealer but I seemed to have totaly missed everything on cleaning the sand before putting it in the tank and filling with water. Heres what i have 150 oceanic tank with sump ,210pounds of sand and 75 pounds of live rock, the water took 2 days to clear up to a cloudy level and every time I do anything to the inside of the tank it turns cloudy again, My question is do I need to drain it and clean the sand and start over?? I asked the dealer and he said to leave it but before I add fish I do not want a cloudy tank, I would appreciate any insight from you pro's. I want to start out right the first time.

 

[theatrus]

My tank was extremley cloudy for about a week when I added my sand. The theory goes that the smaller sand particle size helps with surface area for bacteria growth and is actually beneficial. You'll probably get a few bouts of cloudiness. Do you have any power heads moving water at this point? It may sound wrong, it can actually help though, as it'll mix the sand bed (and move the tiny particles lower in the sand).

If your water is really not clearing up, take some polyster stuffing and put in the input of a powerhead.

 

[Thumper]

I have two power heads going but not pointed towards the sand, I'll leave it be see what happens. Thanks.

 

[darb2]

As the bacteria start to colonize on the sand is will settle out.