sandy problems

[enadeau12]

i read online that using playsand for my cichlid tank would be a good choice of a substrate because of the fine grain and other reasons... etc. anyways i poured my sand in my 55 gal after cleaning it a little bit and the silt will not settle. anyone got any ideas on how to fix this problem. i wanna cycle some H2O!

[BillD]

Drain the water and fill it again. You don't want that fine stuff in the tank.

[enadeau12]

oooh thats gonna be a tedious amount of work... will do tho. thanks for the input.

[GhostKnife]

In most cases it will settle. It may take a day or so for the sand to settle it will look hazy when you first add your water.

[enadeau12]

yah its real real hazy, its been settling for a good 4 hours and ive noticed some small amounts of silt building up on my corner filters, not on dont worry, so i was just wondering if i should restart, add new water

[enadeau12]

this play sand will work though wont it?

[GhostKnife]

What kind of cichlids are you planning on getting and what ph range are you looking for? I would say as far as the silt problem give it a while as you dont have any fish yet I assume/hope and it should settle. For a ph of 7.6 -8.0 I have heard of using aragonite sand. This sand helps buffer your ph to around those numbers. I do not know the buffering capacity of play sand however numerous people on here use it.

[GhostKnife]

You are going to fishless cycle right?

[enadeau12]

yes of course, no fish in my 55, i like the look of the play sand and my water from my tap has a good reputation. i dont have my filters on because of the amount of silt in the tank. for fish i was looking to have 2 firemouths, 4 to 6 bolivian or german blue rams, and maybe a couple pairs of flag acaras. i've just been reading that cichlids love the sand. haah

[GhostKnife]

Cool! I have a german blue ram in my community aquarium with gourami an angel clown loaches and a bala shark and some cherry barbs. The play sand will definitely work for you. They do love poking around in the sand Ive heard as well. If it were me... I would run the filters the silt you are seeing build up will easily pass through your filters and get trapped by your filter pads. I was just reading that you have 2 electric blue jack demseys in with some mollies and black skirts.... I would suggest reading up on the tank mate choices for your dempseys also tank size. 20 gal is not nearly enough for your some of your fish let alone all of them in the one!

[enadeau12]

should my water be cycling??? while the silt manages to settle. filters on???

[enadeau12]

i completely understand your thoughts on the 20 gallon. theyre not dempsey's however, i have two electric blue haps. my pet store has numerous displays and i plan on handing over a green sev and the two haps to him. i feel comfortable doing so.

[GhostKnife]

I would turn your filters on yes this will circulate water and the sand will settle. To cycle the tank after you see clearer water. Take a raw UNCOOKED shrimp and place it in a baggie with holes punched in it. Put the baggie in your tank this will start the nitrogen cycle. The cycle will end when you see 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and a small reading of nitrate. Then you are all set to start adding some fish. The rams need mature water so I would suggest getting some others to start. You will also want some FW test kits. Get the liquid tests rather than test strips. The cycle will take a while so just be patient it will pay off in the end!

[enadeau12]

my nitrate and nitrite and ammonia levels are at ZERO because of my well water. i didnt go through the whole nitrate cycle that exstensively with my 20 gallon and everything is going good. how long should i let my water cycle b4 adding any fish. i dont expect my ammonia levels to jump over .5 so im confident in having good water chemistry, the ph is also all set but explain the hardness and softness of water to me, how much does it effect your fish?

[GhostKnife]

Some fish prefer harder or softer water. So that really depends on the fish and conditions you are going for. As far as your parameters. Everything is at zero because you have not started any sort of breakdown/cycle. You need to cycle before adding fish. Your well water is not ready to go out of the faucet. I am not going to go into depth on the well water because my parents have it I dont so... I do know that well water is generally harder than city water. Unless you use a water softener. You might still need to add a dechlorinator some sort of water conditioner! You more than likely still have metals in the water just from the pipes in the house. I.e Copper and so on. So any how toss a shrimp or two in a baggie put em in your tank and monitor the readings you are getting. Read up on the nitrogen cycle as well it will help you better understand. As far as fish and hard / soft water its up to you on what fish you get and how you are going to either soften or harden the water. This is a good site to look at what fish you are going to get and what water they prefer... Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums

[enadeau12]

okay, thanks so much for all of the input, time can only tell how successful i will be. hopefully everything works out. thanks thanks thanks