is a substright needed?

[border324]

i just posted a message a few days ago saying i bought 100 pounds of play sand for my substright. i have added my water and its been cloudy for atleast 72 hrs. and still no change in cloudiness. my question is do i need to have a substright ? my local fish store has a 150 gallon salt water, and has about 1 bag of agernite sand sprinkled over the bottom of has tank. you can still see his floor of the tank. but he has LR in his tank too is that going to make a diff.
thanks for your help
michael

 

[cmor1701d]

What else is in the tank?
LR?
If not, what have you added to start the cycle?
Read this article about fishless cycling.

My 125 was cloudy for a week before it started to settle. I had some LR to start the cycle. I was assured by the advisors here that the bacteria would grow and attach to the particles and it would eventyually settle down. I can now pick up a handfull and it will settle within minutes of being dropped back down.

HTH,

Cmor

 

[jamal-188]

You do not need substrate. Some information is leading some to belive that sand beds will actually become filled with nutrients and crash over time. I would not recommend cc as it traps too much food/waste and must be cleaned regularly. Some new theories are leaning towards a 1" or so sand bed and stirring it up every so often to help clean it.

 

[border324]

thanks for the help guys. i will leave it in for a wile then. i have not tanken it out yet. i do have another question. i have a xp2 filter. in my smaller tank. i have tanken notice that food and wast and other peices of debrie just go right by it? is that normal or a bad filter?
thanks michael