Aragonite/CC bed question

On all my previous tanks I had always used Live Sand.

This time i went with a 50/50 mix of Crushed Coral Sand and Aragonite. It has been 2 days with the pumps off and it is "somewhat" clear. I turned on a pump for only a second and wham... back to square one, white as can be.

I rinsed the sand several times before putting it in the tank, any suggestions on how to fix this? I dont see it clearing up if every time i turn a pump on it happens again.

 

hmmm..thats odd..i have the 50/50 bedding to, and mine took hours to clear...but i would try to siphon the sand and try to get out as much of the "milky" water as possible

 

That's a pretty common problem with adding new sand. Even after washing the sand out it can still be dusty and whatnot. I've found two techniques that speed up the process but ultimately it can take days.

I use a HOB filter which can filter out the sediments pretty fast but you have to change the filter media like twice during the process over the few days.

I've also used water clarifier. What it does is cling to the sediment in the water column and either makes it sink to the bottom or filter easier through some kind of mechanical filtration like a sump sock.

Likewise just waiting it out can work too but IMO it's best that you get those fine sediments filtered out as if you ever touch your sandbed it will just get kicked back up into the water column. If you're in a rush I'd use both methods up top. I had to do that when I was in a rush because I had to transfer my fish to a new tank plus I was moving which is the biggest pain of moving lol.

I'm assuming this is a new tank, right?

 

thanks

I have a wet/dry and i put a filter pad in there to help but have not been running it because it seemed to make things worse.

How about runniing the pump and putting some filter media on the powerheads as well?

 

just leave everything alone, turn on your filter, and power heads, and wait it out. The filter will "filter" out all the murkyness in the water

 

thanks again!

My only fear is that when i go to put all my LR in it will happen all over again

 

LR typically does not have sediment on it so that shouldn't cause any problems. No filters needed on the powerhead (not sure how that would work..), just keep the filter media in there and run the pumps. How fine is the sand that you're using? I used a very fine sand originally and that stuff did suck for kicking up mini dust storms then I put a more granual sand on top and that stuff works perfect.

 

one bag was sugar fine and i think the others were even finer. I am not worried about the sediment on the LR, more so just stirring it up.

I may have some time yet anyway, i am thinking of Nuking my rock. I have a ton of Aiptasia in it and just found some bristle worms. It has not hit my tank yet as i just bought it and have it all in a quarantine tank.

kinda sucks since it has some nice coralline, button polyps, and sponges.

 

As your tank cycles the bacteria will cling to the small granules and they will settle to the bottom. If your tank has already cycled just leave it and the bacteria in the water column will bind to the granules, however you may always have the problem of stirring up depending on the livestock you keep. In time the crushed coral will end up on top anyway.

 

I cannot decide what to do.

I have 150 lbs of LR i picked up on Saturday, it is in a quarantine tank.

it has small button polyps and some mushrooms but is also coated with Aiptasia. I also just found a red bristle worm and a big brown one hiding in the rock.

Since i have not put it in the main tank yet should i just nuke it and start over?