blasting sand

[stone1269]

The filter sits under my tank

[stone1269]

Put the sand in on Thu and its still has a white hazy to it lol is this normal?

[Malawi Freak]

Yea it's normal. Do a water change but don't disturb the sand.

[Malawi Freak]

The return line is where it sprays back into the tank.

[stone1269]

O ok yea I prob will my return is prob 8 or 10 inches below the surface

[stone1269]

Well its been 3 days an my tank still has a white haze? Wat should I do? Water clarifier?

[Malawi Freak]

I would just do a water change. Clarifies are more harm than good IMO. If I were you I would also raise your return line to about 3" below the surface that way it agitates the surface of your water.

[stone1269]

Ok that's wat ill do then thanx for the help

[Malawi Freak]

Anytime.

[BillD]

Having hazy water is normal only if you didn't clean the sand well enough before putting it the tank. If the sand is clean the water will be crystal clear from the start.

[Malawi Freak]

Originally Posted by BillD

Having hazy water is normal only if you didn't clean the sand well enough before putting it the tank. If the sand is clean the water will be crystal clear from the start.

Not always true. Sand naturally grinds itself down as it rubs together causing dust.

[BillD]

Indeed sand will grind itself down if it is in motion, but not if stationary. Having used sand only a few times, I have found if you clean it properly the water will be crystal clear from the start. This includes black blasting sand, which is very dirty. When you wash sand, as you swirl it, fines will be stirred back into the grains and held there. That is how a sand filter works. Sharp sand traps small particles in the gaps between the grains. If the sand is dirty going in, it will stay dirty and every time it is stirred up it will release trapped fines. I have one tank of panda corys, with brick sand on the bottom. Brick sand is very fine and you can stir it up and the particles are so fine it takes a while for them to settle, but the water stays clear. Same thing with the coarser blasting sand. Stirring it up does not cause the water to get cloudy, because the fines were removed prior to it being placed into the tank. So, while a filter may remove any suspended particles left by an incomplete cleaning, it will not remove what is trapped in the sand.
In my experience, the only way to get sand really clean is to wash it in small quantities, so you aren't reintroducing the dust back into the grains.

[paytertot]

How do you wash the sand?

[Malawi Freak]

Get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it about a 1/4 way of sand and go outside to where your hose is and run hot water through it while swirling it and continuously dumping out the cloudy water. It will take many times doing this but you will notice the water getting clearer.

[paytertot]

Thanks

[stone1269]

Well its been a wk and 1 pwc my water is still kinda hazy I don't get it

[Malawi Freak]

I would do a 60% water change and wouldnt disturb the sand.

[BillD]

Originally Posted by stone1269

Well its been a wk and 1 pwc my water is still kinda hazy I don't get it

A partial water change only partially removes the dust causing the cloudiness. The particles may be small enough to pass right through the filter which would explain why you still see them and they haven't settled out.

[stone1269]

I did notice that the filter pads in my canister filter are pretty big so I can see how small particles would simply go right thru the filter. Is there more filter media I could buy and put in the filter without hurting the filter its self

[paytertot]

What kind of filter do you have? I know that fluval makes water polishing pads, which as far as I know are just sponges made to catch smaller particles.