Sand frustration ... argh

i just bought a 75 gal tank and put some sand in it. the sand turned the water terribly milky. i took the sand out and cleaned it the best i could. i refilled the tank with sand and water and though it is a tad bit better.. it is not where it should be with clarity. what do i do. do i just kick the tank over and over again(that is how i get my tv to work) or is there a more cleaver way to approaching this little dilema? :-[

i need some advice at to what to use to get the sudsy look off of the inside of my tank now and how to get all that sandy stuff out of the water... thanks in advance.

 

Keep your filter running the cloudyness will clear up in a couple days. The suds on your tank, are you talking about the little air bubbles? If so wipe down the inside of the tank with a alge scrapper and they will go away

 

I did that once, now I always rinse my sand (if it's not live sand) one bucket at a time (fill it almost half way with sand then the rest with water and stir, pour off water, repeat a few billion times. hehe).

Sounds like southdown sand.

 

Its not a problem at all, like both have said above, it'll clear in a few days.  The suds are no big deal, they'll go away too.   Your just seeing aragonite dust basicly, which many actually go out and by for there tanks (Aragomilk by Caribsea is one product).  The dust actually, from what I've read, helps knock other partculates outa the water and it also increases alk, ph and calcium a wee bit.   I add Aragomilk to my RO water prior to adding to my tank or mixing new salt water as RO has a low PH, no calcuim and no alkalinity, or at least not in any significant levels.  BTW, for all you whom have an RO/DI, you might want to do the same.  I also let my RO/DI sit around for a day to help rid it of CO2 that is in it.

lussieraston, you ever shop at Fishey Business?

 

Great stuff Gresham!

 

here's another question for you guys.. i read somewhere that my sand at the bottom should me no higher than an inch and a half. but the guy at the pet store (fishy business) has sad we need it atleast 3 inches. which is it?

 

Anywhere from 1.5" - 4" will work. The theory is that the more fine agagonite sand the more surface area for denitrfying bacteria to occupy.

Then there is the bare bottom or no sand option. The theory is that sand becomes a sink that accumulates phosphates, and detritous.

Search this forum for additional discussion.

 

If you go to Fishey Business, talk to Mitch. He's the owner and a very knowledgable guy. ditto what Craig said. Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks Craig

 

I basically run barebottom if you have any questions about that.

 

Just to muddle the answers a bit

I use about 1 to 2 inches and then only to help stabilise the rock.

John