sandy water

[peachSTONER]

Im new to the fish tank commuinty and im startin my tank i put sand box sand in and the water all the chemicals and the waters not clear how do i fix this

 

[roundar]

Several methods I guess, but I and many others put the sand in a bucket or the like and pour out all that cloudiness, refill, poor out the cloudiness. Rinse and repeat until the water is clear.

 

[peachSTONER]

Is there anyway to do it without takinh water out like if i let it set will it settle

 

[roundar]

Is there anyway to do it without takinh water out like if i let it set will it settle

I let some sit for about 36h and it didn't clear up. Even if it did/does settle, all those light particles are going to be stirred up constantly by any motion at all. You're going to need to be doing ~weekly partial water changes anyway, so this is a good time to practice.

Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle?

 

[peachSTONER]

No im not please explain

 

[roundar]

No im not please explain

Here's a great article where you can learn all about it:
Bio-Elite FAQ Nitrogen and Fish

In a nutshell, waste, including extra fish food and fish feces, produces ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish and prolonged exposure to even very small amounts produces a host of health issues and more often than not, death. Bacteria does grow when ammonia is present however and it's good bacteria. This bacteria turns Ammonia into nitrites. Nitrites are still harmful to fish; however, more bacteria grows that takes nitrites and turns them into nitrates. Nitrates aren't nearly as harmful to fish and can be dealt with by simple weekly water changes. 20-40% a week is a common amount of water to change.

There's a lot more information you should consider before setting up a tank with fish, but don't feel overwhelmed, nearly everyone you see posting went through the same phase!


From there I suggest going over this:
Tips and tricks for your fastest fishless cycle!

 

[dollabill420]

I tried that kinda sand, rinsed really good with a hose in a bucket while stirring it up got it clean as it will go and still will be cloudy for days used filter wool (poly fill) to take it out. It's still terrible in every aspect, hard to vacuum, turns like concrete after a while and does nothing for bio filter, even fish will kick it up, switched to silica sand that's 50 cents a pound and will never be switching back lol, do your self a big favor and switch now, I had to switch it between changing fish from breeding guppies for a friend for feeders to a pair of angels and it was still a four hour process by the time could get the angels into there new quarantine which is going to be their home for a good while (I use full size tanks to quarantine) no sense of smaller there cheaper to run then a 5-15 gal and make quarantine quicker because there stress free from confined spaces lol

All in all playsand is a pain in the....you know what