Freshwater fish in tank with unwashed sand

[FRACKfan28]

I decided to put sand in my tank and didn't wash it before hand. I've been doing a lot of water changes and the water is still cloudy. I had to remove my fish from their other tank and last night put them in this new tank. The water is fine, except for the cloudyness due to the sand. Will the sand eventually settle? WIll my fish be alright? My parrotfish looked like he was dying this morning, but I didn't know if this was from the stress of moving or from the sand in the water. Please let me know I am very worried.

 

[Mark388]

You should have washed the sand before putting the fish in. If possible remove to there original tanks.

You need to hand wash the sand in a 5 gallon bucket or similar. Wash about 1 gallon of sand at a time swirling and mixing up the sand and dumping the water. When the water runs clear then place the sand in your tank. If you don't hand wash the sand I could take a month or more for the water to clear with daily water changes.

As for you parrot it's probably stressed. The cloudyness of the water shouldn't affect it's health.

 

[FRACKfan28]

I can't put the fish back in their original tank. If I continue to do water changes will the water eventually clear? I have two filters running.

 

[Mark388]

Here's a thread with a guy who had the same problem.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/best-way-to-get-aragonite-sand-to-settle-205645.html

Just keep mixing the sand before the water change. You probably could take a cup full of sand out at a time and wash it. That may quicken the process.

 

[Autumnsky]

There is a water clarifier you can buy helps lump the particles together to more easily be filtered out, check with local pet store or lfs or big box pet store.

Make sure you have adequate air in the tank.

Good luck, there can be a lot of dust in the sand! More obvious when its floating in the water of your fish tank!!!

 

[micaiah12]

This is what I did.
Put ALL of my fish into a 10 gallon tank. Drained my water and tried to get as much cloudiness out with the water. Then once the water was out. I scooped out the sand and put about two or three cups of it into a pillowcase. Then under a hose with a spray nose. I spayed it out side. After awhile use a bucket to catch the water off of the pillowcase to see if it is running clear or not. Do it to all of your sand. 2-3 cups at a time. Make sure you message the pillow case while you are rinsing the sand. once all the the sand is clear put it back into your tank. Then fill with water. Heat, Prime, and transfer your equipment over. Once it is heated. Re-home your fish into the new sand base aquarium. It might be a little bit cloudy but with in 24 hours it will clear up with two filters going. Maybe with a water change or two.