New tank, cloudy white water? HELP!!!!

[cmhadden]

I just recently set up my saltwater tank and it has been running for 8 or more hours so far. The water is very cloudy white and I my question is how long does it usually take for a 30 gal. tank to clear up? And do I need to wait for it to clear up to introduce damsels and live rocks?

 

[darb2]

It can take a couple of days. You don't have to use damsels to cycle the tank. put a raw shrimp in the tank to start the cycle. Check the articles for more info on how to do this

 

[saberry]

My tank is just slightly less cloudy each day - today is day number three. BTW, I put two raw shrimp in last night. I will start checking the water tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Avi]

What kind of filtration are you using? IF you just have live rock in there, it will take longer than if you have some other filtration going on in there. If you just have the rock, and you have a sump, try placing some kind of foam between the in chamber and the out chamber. That will filter out some of the cloudiness that's most likely coming from your substrate.

 

[malkore]

I had no cloudiness when I mixed up my first 29gallon batch of salt this weekend. is IO salt known to be less cloudy or was i just lucky?

 

[Avi]

I can't give you too accurate an answer to that because I just, coincidentally, used Instant Ocean for the first time this weekend...though, I can tell you that there was absolutely no cloudiness from it. Just out of curiosity, which salt had you been using before the IO?

 

[cmhadden]

the salt i used was IO. I guess the filters have been running now for about 13 hours and it is significantly less cloudy. Thanks for the advice. Somebody tell me about how and what I need to check the water for before I put anything else in it.

 

[saberry]

the salt i used was IO. I guess the filters have been running now for about 13 hours and it is significantly less cloudy. Thanks for the advice. Somebody tell me about how and what I need to check the water for before I put anything else in it.

If you have not read it yet, you may want to check the articles link at the top of the page and read the one on fishless cycling.

 

[24 hours? NE!]

Was the cloudiness from the mixing up of the sand with the water? If so, be patient and it will clear up.