Milky Sand and Dense Sand

Hello,

I am in the midst of setting up my first saltwater tank. I just finished putting in the dry rock and now I am getting ready to add my dry sand.

I have 160lbs of Aragonite sand. I put the sand in large totes, added RO/DI water, stirred up the sand, let it settle and then poured off the milky water. I repeated this process 3-4 times. The water has gotten clearer but is still milky every time I stir it up. How many times do I need to do this in order to get clear water? Or is this not really attainable and/or necessary?

Second question: The sand was really soft when I first got it before I put it in water. When it is in the water, the sand seems really dense and hard. It takes quite a bit of effort to stir up the sand. Is this normal for the sand to be so dense? I would have expected it to be softer and free to move around. Is there something I need to do to stir up the sand and prevent it from packing so much?

Thanks in advance and sorry if the questions are a little basic. This is my first tank and I am really excited about getting it off to a good start.

Thanks,
Mark

 

All of that is normal when rinsing sand. There will always be some cloudiness when adding new sand. The more you rinse the less cloudy it will be, but will still have some. What I did was add my sand than put a trash bag or old sand bag on the bottom of the tank when adding the water. This way it doesn't stir it up anymore than needed. Once you have your salt water added just run your skimmer is will pull it all out after a day.

 

pouring the water over a plate works good too.

 

Everything you have described is perfectly normal. It's good to wash the sand a few times, but you will never get it all. After you had the water or the sand (which ever you had second) it will settle in a day or two.