How long ?

[JessicaK]

So I set up my new tank yesterday (46 bow) with just the aragonite, filter and water. This was about 9:00 pm last night and it's almost 20 hours later and the tank is still cloudy. I'm wondering if this is b/c I didnt rinse the aragonite well enough. Or is this just how long it takes for it to settle?

 

[melosu58]

It will take a day or two or three to settle. If it was dry then you should have rinsed it off to help get rid of the dust. All it will do is prolong the cloudiness an extra day or two.

 

[packagerat]

I agree with mel It took my tank 3 days to clear and that was using just live sand that came wet.

 

[JessicaK]

Thanks yall...it's just about clear now. My last tank only took about 12 hours to clear but it was a much smaller tank. Tomorrow, I'll work on my SG and hopefully start the cycle

 

[Guest]

What about live rock? Are you going to be doing reef?

 

[JessicaK]

Yeah, I'm going to add some live rock this week--after the holiday. I have to drive about an hour away to get LR, the LFSs here aren't very good so the set up will be a slow process. I would get it online, but I like to pick out the rocks. I'm just picky, I guess.

I'm waiting on the LFS I got my tank from to get my canopy and light in. My tank is black and the distribution company sent a oak hood. The hood was going to be worthless anyway so I just asked them to return the hood and get me a glass top and a good light strip. Eventually, I think I'm going to go with an Aqualight by Corallife.

I know eventually I'll do some soft corals. I just dont want to get too into the reef side of things b/c my husband is in the Army and we move a lot. Hopefully, we'll be here for at least 2 more years, though. I want to try to keep things as simple as possible.

 

[Guest]

Do not waste your money on a glass top. Much better to use something like eggcrate that is very cheap.

Glass tops do not allow for good gas exchange which can drop your PH, as well as heat up the tank.

 

[melosu58]

I would get it online, but I like to pick out the rocks. I'm just picky, I guess.

me too

 

[roka64]

I like to pick my LR as well. For my 125, I bought 150Lbs of base rock and will mix it with some LR, from my LFS.