Dirty Water??

[rtoycrow]

I am starting to add water to my tank. Put the sand in and about 40 gallons of water in my 125 so far. (My salinity is 1.025) When I started adding water a brown yellowish film in the form of suds and bubbles is at the top of my water. Is this normal and do I need to scoop it out or will it eventually disappear?

 

[tecwzrd]

What kind of sand did you add? (brand) Did you rinse the sand off before adding?

Usually the "sand storm" caused by adding water or by dumping in sand will cause the kind of film you are talking about and with proper water movement on the surface it will clear up in a couple of days.

 

[rtoycrow]

I used kolorscape white play sand and I thought I rinsed it off pretty good but I guess I didnt do such a hot job.

 

[tecwzrd]

Is this the sand you used?

It could be silica based and not aragonite sand. Did you try the vinegar test?

I haven't used that sand personally but have read from multiple people that it's pretty dusty even after rinsing and that it takes awhile for it to clear. Should be harmless assuming nothing is in the tank besides water/sand.

 

[rtoycrow]

yep thats it. It did bubble a little so I decided to go with it. Yeah all that is in my tank is sand and water. Still got to buy the base and live rock which is going to break my wallet in half.

 

[tecwzrd]

If looking for cheap live rock checkout intmarinefish.com or www.exoticfish.com
which has lr for as little as $2-$3 per lb shipped.

Couple of more places with quality lr:
www.liverocknreef.com
www.liveaquaria.com
www.tampabaysaltwater.com

For base rock checkout Marco's base rock (limited supply varies monthly) or Reeferrock. You can buy mostly base rock ($1-$2 per lb) and seed with 25+% live rock and it will all look "live" within a year or so.

 

[Ziggy953]

Ok...what is the vinegar test?

 

[tecwzrd]

It's covered in this post along with all the various sands people use in their SW tanks.

 

[roka64]

I rinsed my sand quite a few times and still had that foam form on the top. I would clean it off, otherwise it turns hard and becomes a real pain to remove.