Urgent pool filter sand mess

[barterking85]

K so I have my fish in a rubbermaid bin so I could change from gravel to pfs all done now but the water is disgusting so cloudy it's gross looks like mud puddle water and I rinsed it for about 1.5 hours will this settle over time ? Should I wait till tomorrow to add my fish? Is it normal?

 

[tarpon]

Mine didn't cloud at all. How did you rinse it?
Don't run your filters the sand can mess em up. Make sure your media stays wet though!

And I would wait a while. Make sure your fish have an air pump for overnight if that's what you do. And that the container isn't too small

Oh and you could do a water change to help clear it up.

 

[carey]

Did you use the plate trick when adding your sand? You know putting a bowl or plate in the tank and pouring your water into that to avoid a sandstorm?
I had some light murky color but it cleared up in a few hours....

 

[barterking85]

Ok I am doing a water change and I am gonna use the bowl trick

I suppose I should put a heater and pump in the bin overnight

Hope this works

 

[tarpon]

There's a bottle trick too. You funnel the sand into a coke bottle and turn it upside down inside the tank and let the sand fall out. The cloudy mess stays in the bottle.

Remember to keep your filter media wet if you're not running your filters!

 

[barterking85]

There's a bottle trick too. You funnel the sand into a coke bottle and turn it upside down inside the tank and let the sand fall out. The cloudy mess stays in the bottle.

Remember to keep your filter media wet if you're not running your filters!

Yeah for sure I run canisters so it's easy

 

[zparticle]

Bummer, I tried a fairly fine sand and found I hated it. Ended up using aquarium sand and that has work out great. It is large enough that it doesn't make the mess a finer sand does.

 

[BillD]

The key to washing any sand is to do it in small quantities, or the sand will re-trap the fine sediment. Remove all the water and redo.If you allow the sediment to settle, it will still be in there and could be stirred up again. Easier to get it out now.

 

[eco23]

Ryan, is the murkiness from disturbing the old gravel you removed, or from the new sand? Mine was nasty from the mess under the old gravel, but a couple pwc's and a few hours of filtering cleared it right up.

I know you used PFS which is heavier grained, so assuming you rinsed it decently and it's just a matter of a bit of dust settling.

Personally I'd do some pwc's if the water is brown nastiness from the old gravel, but if that's been filtered out and it's just a bit dusty looking...I wouldn't worry.

 

[barterking85]

Ok guys I did 4 100% water changes it looks much better and bill I probably did rinse too much at once

 

[BillD]

Sand, and even gravel, is difficult to rinse when you have any quantity in the pail. the sediment gets back in before it can leave the pail. it goes much more quickly if you do small quantities at a time.

 

[zparticle]

Something I found helps me rinse gravel is to put it in a big bucket then stick a garden hose in the center all the way to the bottom. Let the water run and overflow the bucket. The debris rises and flushes out while the gravel stays at the bottom. Don't know if that would work for sand.

 

[eco23]

Something I found helps me rinse gravel is to put it in a big bucket then stick a garden hose in the center all the way to the bottom. Let the water run and overflow the bucket. The debris rises and flushes out while the gravel stays at the bottom. Don't know if that would work for sand.

That's what I did for my sand and it worked great. Filled the buckets half full of sand, stuck the garden hose underneath it for about 15 mins churning it with my hands every few minutes. I had just mild, expected cloudiness for a few hours...nothing major. The junk under the old gravel was what was nasty IME.

 

[barterking85]

Something I found helps me rinse gravel is to put it in a big bucket then stick a garden hose in the center all the way to the bottom. Let the water run and overflow the bucket. The debris rises and flushes out while the gravel stays at the bottom. Don't know if that would work for sand.

That's how I did it but I think like bill said I was doing too much at once with gravel I use a strainer but I figured that wouldn't work for sand lol

Live and learn next time I won't rush it