Beginners Problem

[paindocc]

3 days ago I poured the sand in my 200 gallon tank. The is very cloudy. Should I turn off all the pumps and blowers and let the sand settle for a few days:thumbs:

 

[cr500_af]

You can. I always throw a HOB filter on and it clears within 12 hours.

 

[jennm]

If you don't have any fish or livestock, yes, you can turn it off to settle it.

Or you can use a clarifying agent.

Did you begin with dry sand? If so, did you rinse it first?

Jenn

 

[ricksconnected]

cr500_af;480538 wrote: You can. I always throw a HOB filter on and it clears within 12 hours.

yep should.

 

[down and outman]

I did that on my first tank, not rinsing the sand. I had to use a hob filter and paper towels on the filters to get the dust out of it. Now I always rinse it out.

 

[drnecropolis]

I put the sand in the tank and dripped RODI water over it over several days to fill the tank.. No sand storm..

 

[myvwrock]

down and outman;480748 wrote: I did that on my first tank, not rinsing the sand. I had to use a hob filter and paper towels on the filters to get the dust out of it. Now I always rinse it out.

alot of sand is just like a powder and to fine to pre-rinse

 

[paindocc]

The sand was wet so I did not re-rinse. Its about four days now and still cloudy!!. This is my first tank and it has been quite an experience so far...I will go to Avarium tmrw and get a hob filter

 

[sollie7]

PAINDOCC;480775 wrote: The sand was wet so I did not re-rinse. Its about four days now and still cloudy!!. This is my first tank and it has been quite an experience so far...I will go to Avarium tmrw and get a hob filter

do you have a skimmer?

 

[myvwrock]

sollie7;480800 wrote: do you have a skimmer?

he just set the tank up he has no waste to skim....but Skimmer well be needed in a few weeks

 

[sollie7]

myVWrock;480802 wrote: he just set the tank up he has no waste to skim....but Skimmer well be needed in a few weeks

oh I just ran mine the whole time and it seemed to clear the tank up in about a day or so after I added the sand

 

[hhughes]

It will settle. My first tank took about a week to be able to see all the way to the back wall, and another week to get crystal clear. Running a HOB will certainly speed things up.

 

[dakota9]

Dosing Seachem Clarify (a very safe and benign flocculant)and a Magnum 350
with the micron cartridge will clean up the tank very quickly.

I have both if you need them. No charge for the Clarify, and you can borrow the Magnum as long as you need it, I'm near the airport.

Just leting it settle in to your sand bed means that you get a mini storm every time the sand bed is disturbed. Best to take it out of the equation all together.

 

[jennm]

"Clarity" (by Seachem).

That's what I'd do at this point - I suggested it yesterday

Jenn

 

[dakota9]

HEHE......... Sorry Jenn, it IS Clarity, as I'm looking at the bottle now.......

I'm a bad, bad Seachem fan....

You however did NOT suggest the use of a Magnum 350, the most impressive canister filter on earth when it come to removing fine sediment from the water column.


Just don't try to use the Magnum and Micron Cartridge to remove aiptasia........ Still to date, the worst idea I've come up with in this hobby.......

 

[coolsurf]

Dakota9;481068 wrote:
Just don't try to use the Magnum and Micron Cartridge to remove aiptasia........ Still to date, the worst idea I've come up with in this hobby.......

This sounds like a story I really want to hear!!!!!

 

[dakota9]

coolsurf;481073 wrote: This sounds like a story I really want to hear!!!!!

Well, the short of it was I had a few aiptasia, and while vacuuming the detritus out of the sandbed one night, thought it would be a great idea to hook a reducer up to the suction tube of the Magnum and suck those babies off the rock. I thought the micron filter would filter out the gametes from the aiptasia. I looked GREAT after I finished.......


I was wrong.


4 weeks later, I had every square inch of rock and sand COVERED in aiptasia in my 30 cube. They were growing on the walls of my tank and never other than in my tank have I seen baby free floating aiptasia in the water column looking for a place to latch on the rock.


That reminds me, I need to update my Berghia Thread......

 

[paindocc]

Well you all I just came back from the Avarium ( one of our sponsor stores) He gave me some of that clarity stuff. I also got some dense carbon filters to put in my refuge and added some life rock about 40 pounds. Its been 4 hours and now I can actually see my live rock.... before I could not.

Hopefull...