NEED help figuring out my sand problem

[jbrent]

I recently purchased a 29 gallon Aqueon Aquarium Kit and everything seems to be going pretty well with setting it up except for the fact that I was talked into buying black sand for my tank. It isn't fine grade sand, its just black aquarium sand from petco. I have already washed it very well and the water is still a little murky but my filter and stuff should fix that problem hopefully, but my main problem is every time I keep pouring water into my tank, a layer of sand floats to the top.
Is this normal? Is there any way to prevent this from happening? And once my tank is filled up and ready for fish to be put in, will the sand always keep floating to the top? Please help me figure this out my boys won't leave me alone about going to pick the fish out but I can't until I solve this problem.

Thanks in advance to anyone who advises me on the right way to handle this situation.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Can you give us the brand and type of sand from the bag? Some plant substrates do float a bit but only some pieces. How much of the sand is floating percentage wise?

 

[fishfanatic]

I had the exact same problem with the exact same sand. If I remember correctly the sand sunk after a few days. The filter seemed to push it under then it stayed under. Although there were some weird bubbles on top of the substrate but those went away after the first PWC.

Is your tank cycled?

 

[jbrent]

I believe the brand was the Petco aquarium sand. And out of 40 pounds of sand I would say only about .08% floats to the top. Its just like any time I disturb the sand a little bit floats to the top and I have to scoop it out. Is there anything I could do to prevent that from happening.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Just splash some water over them or let them float around for a while and they'll sink. I have the same brand in white with the same problem for the first couple of weeks and then it disappeared. Is your tank cycled?

 

[jbrent]

no I haven't started the cycle yet because I was afraid the sand floating up top might mess my filter up so I am going to start tonight

 

[librarygirl]

I've used that sand; it'll stop doing that eventually. You can just net out the sand from the surface. After a while you'll be able to move it without it floating.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Your sand just has air trapped in it. It just takes time for the air to escape before it sinks. A bit of it may not settle so those will need to be removed.

What you can do is take out the lite sand and put it in a plastic container filled with water to let them absorb water and not have any get sucked into your filter. This will let you keep the mess out of your tank but also give the sand time to release the trapped air.