How long will this cloudiness persist ???

[KimeeBee]

I recently switched my 40 breeder out to a 75 gal, and also went from gravel to "live ciclid sand". The two AC 70's I had on the 40 gal did not fit the 75 gal, so I went out and bought two brand new AC 110s for the 75. Well the AC 110s have been running for almost 24 hours and I see no change in the way the water looks.

I'm used to working with sand, as I've also had salt water tanks in the past, and I expected some initial cloudiness until the sand settled - but I don't recall ever having to wait this long for the water to clear up. It looks like I'm just looking thru a cloud of smoke in the tank. And what's worst, is that the LFS I bought the live ciclid sand from only had two 20 lb bags in stock, so I decided to take the two bags he had, order another 40 lb bag, and just start the tank with the two 20 lbs bags - which means I'm going to have to go thru this again when the rest of the sand comes in and I add it to the tank.

Is this normal ? Why is it taking so long for the sand to settle and the water to clear up ?

 

[Kvnr14]

Do you clean the sand before you put it in? And if it was me, I would do a big water changes, should help with the cloudy mess. When I did play sand it did the same thing because it was so dirty.

 

[KimeeBee]

Do you clean the sand before you put it in? And if it was me, I would do a big water changes, should help with the cloudy mess. When I did play sand it did the same thing because it was so dirty.

No...I did not clean the sand before putting it in the tank b/c it was "live sand" and I thought that cleaning it would remove whatever was "live". I just poured it straight in the tank from the bag. After putting in the sand, I filled the tank with water...etc. etc. I did notice that the sand was pretty wet coming out of the bag.

 

[reefdiver]

there are lots of comments that the live sand is really not worth it. Thast it is not really live sand. What was the purpose of the live sand? The W/C will help with the cloudiness.

 

[KimeeBee]

there are lots of comments that the live sand is really not worth it. Thast it is not really live sand. What was the purpose of the live sand? The W/C will help with the cloudiness.

LFS Owner told me it was the "best" sand for Ciclids and that the "live" substrate would naturally keep PH and other readings at required levels.

I went to the store looking for some black sand, and although he did have some black sand; he told me that this other product (which by the way was $27/20 lbs) would be better for the fish - "especially for Ciclids" he said.

So I guess I fell for it.

 

[Coursair]

What Brand ? Exact name was this "special" sand ?? Just curious