Just another new guy with a question :)

[thecarters1228]

Hey everyone, just another newbie here . Currently im setting up a 44 gallon saltwater aquarium. Ive had a 55 gallon and a 125 before but its just been fish only not a reef setup (which i plan to do this time around). I have a quick question for you. This time around i used live sand (last time i used crushed coral) and I dumped in the sand last Thursday and my water has been extremely cloudy every since. I can't get a clear answer on what i should do. Should i leave my filter running and try to get all the little particles out or should i turn it off and let gravity take its course haha. If you say turn it off, as soon as i turn my filter back on and power head on won't it get extremely murky again? Just as an fyi No, i didn't wash the sand as that would've killed the bacteria growing in it, im using a cheap hang on filter until my new filter comes, which is in the mail. Im using regular tap water with instant ocean salt. On initial setup I mixed salt and water directly in tank, but my wc i will be doing it separately as well as buying water from my lfs. Any help would be greatly appreciated, btw everyone in here keep up the good work in helping each other with there problems and questions. Its what made me decide to join because of the community here.

[mr_X]

i would keep running the filter to take out the particulate matter. i would change to a reef grade salt and also stop using tap water.
in the future, you can wash off the outside of the bag, then cut it open and lower it in the tank and gently pour it out, and this will limit any dust storm. or better yet, you could use dry sand. it will become live in a short time.

[thecarters1228]

Originally Posted by mr_X

i would keep running the filter to take out the particulate matter. i would change to a reef grade salt and also stop using tap water.
in the future, you can wash off the outside of the bag, then cut it open and lower it in the tank and gently pour it out, and this will limit any dust storm. or better yet, you could use dry sand. it will become live in a short time.

i had planned on switching to water from my lfs and thanks for the heads up on the salt. Will switch to different kind before i do a wc. How long should i expect the water to be cloudy for. Im getting a new filter sometime this week should i put that in and let it keep running with the other filter or should I just let the old one get all the soot in it before using the new one?

[mr_X]

i would run them both till the water is clear.