Should I just start the cycle?

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David03

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
80
Location
Potomac MD
Hello All,
After 5 agonizing days of slow fill by my RO/DI unit, my tank is almost filled. Just put in some Caribsea Aragonite sand yesterday, and even after rinsing it, it is incredibly cloudy.

I was wondering:
Should I wait until the cloudiness clears before adding LS and a cocktail shrimp to start the cycle?

Or should I just go ahead and add the LS and shrimp?

Also, regardless of what I do, should I run my powerheads, or leave them off, to let all the sand settle (or maybe even stick some filter media in the PH inlet to help get some of the fine particles...).

Sorry for the long list of questions, and as always, thanks.

David
 
I would add the sand and shrimp and let it set, then after is clear turn on the powerheads. :D
 
The cycle itself will help in reducing the cloudiness. The beneficial bacteria will grow and attach to the sand particles making them settle.
 
when adding sand to a tank with water try adding it through a piece of PVC 2-3" dia. It needs to be long enough to reach the bottom. this should help reduce any new sand storm.
 
Thank you for all of the help.

Fluff (or anyone else), should I run the powerheads with filter media (or piece of sponge) to filter out the fine fine sand, or just run them and let the tiny bits collect bacteria and settle where they may?

David
 
Yep adding LS willl cloud your water again anyways so go ahead and start it.
 
Well, LS is in and 2 shrimp were added... Have no idea what happened to them, as they spun then sunk into my primordial powerhead-swirled ooze.

Thanks again everyone for your help... parameters to be passed on if anything interesting or unusual happens.
 
David....do you have a sump set up yet? I had alot cloudyness too but once I got my over flow and returns running the movement of water settled it all almost overnite...within a day or 2 it was clear
PH are good but they just move water around....the overflow and sump will create a circular affect and allow your sump to trap the extra stuff floating in the water :)
 
Well Pearson, you got me! Still building the sump. LFS is helping me out by ordering the baffles for me (local glass company wouldn't do it). Hoping to get it all done this weekend.

At this point I can live with the cloudiness... nothing else in there anyway. I just hope it doesn't hurt the cycling, though I can't imagine that it will.
 
lol....dont tell the local glass store what your doing....just take them the measurements and thickness and they will cut it for u
maybe cheaper then the LFS
 
Well local glass store has stuff on backorder and can't get to it for another week. The guy at the lfs is actually being really cool and getting a friend of his that does acrylic to just cut to my measurements. Won't be expensive at all.

I have a really good LFS that takes care of me.

Think I have one of the few...
 
How come it took 5 days to fill the tank from your RO/DI filter? Are they slow when it comes to output then? Also, what can I expect to spend if I want to buy a RO/DI filter? I filled up my tanks with tap and am using bottled water from the local water store for top offs, and I am wondering if the local water store has too much filtration, I know it's more than just RO/DI, I think it's UV and carbon and 1 or 2 other filters which I will identify next visit there...
 
Actually, there is another thread where RO/DI units are discussed... you should check it out. I think that mine might actually be defective (another person is having the problem too). Mine was supposed to pump out 100 GPD, but that has not been the case.

Can't remember what mine was, but I think around $160 on ebay.

So many people have had problems with algae and cyano on this site after using tap water, that I figured it was worth chewing off my fingers and being patient for my silly RO/DI unit to finally fill the tank.

Someone may want to chime in, but I'm not sure your local water store could filter "too much."

David
"Filling life one slow gallon at a time..."
 
I also started my tank up yesterday. I didn't wash the sand so when I added the water there was foam and the water is also cloady. I'm hoping within a few days it would be clear.

Update us when your tank clears. I think mine might take longer since I didn't rinse it.
 
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