water sand cloudy

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hockeydude15

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
142
Location
NJ
I made the mistake of putting sand into my tank without prerinsing. I normally dont do this but because its sw i just couldnt rinse it out in tap water like i always do. So i just dumped it in and it rubsided after about 4 days. Then I moved the sand around again and it was back to cloudy. . . I did this like 5 times in the last 2 weeks and I am getting anxious. Im assuming that its time to get a powerfilter to clear it up for good?

(all that I have is a skimmer turning the water over. and a tiny red sea nano filter which is doing a decent job haha for now)
 
Because you did not rinse it, It will take some time. Why are you moving the sand around?
 
Why did you stir it up each time it settled? No reason to do that, the fine particles should settle to the bottom eventually and you shouldn't get a dust cloud with minor movement.

How large of a tank is it? How many inches of sand? Is it fine or coarse sand?

You will need more water movement then just a skimmer.
 
38 gal. I moved the sand around by pouring in water during water changes. I have a powerhead as well. Its also about 3 inches deep.
 
Sand shouldn't be moving to the point of cloudiness with pwc even if it's fine sand, pour slower ;) What % are you doing pwc at? Was it a brand of sand you got from a lfs/online designed for SW like CaribSea or was it sand you got from a hardware store?

It should settle down completely eventually.
 
First is it a bad thing that the sand was moved around? the brand is caribsea arogonite and there was ocean direct or something. Im not even doing pwc. The water has been rapidly evaporating and im filling in the lost area.
 
Moving the top layer (first 1") typically doesn't disturb much but you still want to avoid moving it around too much since it disturbs your bacterial base. Pouring 1-2 gal of water into the tank for top off should not disturb your sand if you do it slowly. You should top off every 2-3 days at the most for top off. Your 38 gal tank should average around 1/2 to 1 gal a day evaporation at the most.

Caribsea is the same brand I prefer and is pretty good with little rinsing needed IME. Everything should settle down soon.
 
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