tahitian moon sand

[Meredith]

Since all my fish are in the hospital tank, and I have been wanting to switch to sand for a while, my hubby bought me some tahitian moon sand today...YEA!!! now what? do I soak it? do I have to let the tank cycle again? I thought I saw a post a while ago but I couldn't find it again

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

You'll need to rinse it. And rinse it. And probably rinse it again.

It'll probably take several good rinses to remove most of the excess dust but don't be suprised if your tank is still cloudy for a few days after setting it up.

 

[Meredith]

Ok now I have a giant tub I can rinse it in, I am thinking out side would be the best for this project. can I use water from the hose?

 

[urville]

you could use water change water... but hose water shouldnt matter. you may want to use inside water after words only because and i'm not sure on this, some peoples outside water can be well water or resovoir water while the indoor water is from the city. depends on where you live etc. you're going to experience a cycle you can minimize that with biospirs, although i reccomend seachem stability too. thats just me.
take some panty hose make a bag and use the old good gravel to seed for 4-7 days, also if you have a PW it can help too.

 

[Meredith]

I am strictly well water

 

[krap101]

w00t go meredith!

 

[Meredith]

my tank is now without gravel But soon to have sand a picture. And one of my angel cause I dont think I have posted one. my fish (except shrimp) are all still in hospital, wont be moved till big tank deemed safe. My shrimp may or may not have something. I cant tell. Do ghost shrimp get white-ish as they get older?

 

[Lance M.]

When the ghost shrimp are about to die they get whitish and not so clear anymore.

 

[Meredith]

oh great!

 

[Meredith]

so Im rinsing. and rinsing. a half a bag at a time in a plastic tub in my shower. When can I stop rinsing? does the water clear up?

 

[krap101]

i usually stop rinsing when the water clears up within 10 secs of being stirred up. imo its easier to go outside, use the hose, use a bucket, prop the bucket up with like a flat rock put the sand in fill with water and put the hose at an angle to spin the water in the bucket enough for water to spill out every turn

 

[Meredith]

I was lazy today and now its dark and cold. I want to get the sand in before my hubby comes home from work. I should have done this outside. I have rinsed it about 10 times now, stirring dumping rinsing. Hopefully that will do.

 

[krap101]

lol not smart. sand... inside.... water..... splashes......mess...irritation bla bla bla on and on lol. and also it might clog your shower.... i think a nicely rinsed sand tomorrow will be better then a makeshift type rinse inside with a messy tank 2day. it'll settle eventually but washing it outside is better imo. and the hose is more powerful i think 2. so personally im going to wash my sand tomorrow after school for this 10 gallon my cousin/aunt/uncle gave me .

 

[Meredith]

lol I am definitely doing this the hard way!! I am only going to do this little batch and do the rest tomorrow.

 

[krap101]

haha thats the stuff

 

[Meredith]

this is gonna look so cool when i actually get it all in there!

 

[krap101]

bowfront? because it looks like moss on the right from the refraction lol. a nice lil carpet of moss lol. and looks like you did a pretty good job of cleaning it inside lol. it woulda been easier outside. have fun. took me like 20 mins for a 50 lb bag. i put about 100 lbs in my 29 gallon so i could bury the pvc caves under the sand. lol. one of the pipes twisted so i had to take out all the sand and straighten it out then put it all back in haha.

 

[Meredith]

not a bowfront. just plain. I could not wait. I braved the cold, and the spiders and went outside and rinsed the darn sand. I LOVE IT!!! I cant believe I waited so long to do this. The pics dont do it justice, my camera is crap!