What do I do?

I don't suppose this is as urgent as the "asap" category would have you think, however I need a bit of advice.

I just set up a new tank, and bought course gravel [bottom layer] and very fine dead sand for the upper layer of substrate, simply because I liked the consistency and the only saltwater supplier within a reasonable distance didn't offer live sand.

I ordered what I believe to be a good quality live sand online, and I just received it a half hour ago. It came with macroalgae, and a few pods that I could see. It is, however, cloudy. There is a good amount of white "dust" as I'm calling it. I added water from my tank [all levels are very low, it's been cycling with live rock for a few days now].

What I want to know is, should I dump the cloudy water from the sand and rinse it with my saltwater until it runs clear, or will that kill the bacteria in it?

Thanks

 

That would be fine. As long as you rinse it with salt water, it won't kill the bacteria. You may not be aware that the finer sand that you've placed on top of the courser substrate will eventually sift to the bottom of the tank leaving the course stuff on top. Now, did you use freshwater aquarium gravel or crushed coral?

 

Thanks for your help! Haha the sand that I received this morning has been sitting in a container in me room waiting for a reply like that


The bottom layer is coarse crushed coral. I think it was Caribsea, the kind with the whole snail shells, etc. I figured the two would mix, I only got the both the sand and cc, because it's going to be a nano system with maybe a goby or two. I figured once I put him in there, he can do whatever he decides to with the gravel/sand.

Thanks!

 

Gobies are great but if you're considering a sand sifting goby, the course gravel will damage its gills so keep that in mind. I myself have a nano tank in which I plan on keeping a goby/pistol shrimp pair. I have the shrimp but it's proving difficult to find a shrimp goby in my local fish store these days!

 

That makes sense, the coarse gravel damaging its gills. You know, with all of the online "fish mongers" and everything, it's funny that they don't mention these things. I guess that's pretty ibvious- i've had reef systems before and everything, but I never would have thought of that.

As for the pistol shrimp, are they compatible with all of the shrimp gobies, or do they each have a certain species of shrimp they require? And is the popping sound that i've heard that pistol shrimp make really as annoying as people say?

 

Most shrimp gobies pair up with certain shrimp. There are several different types of pistol shrimp as well as species of goby. Check this site out it has good info on pairs of goby/ shrimp combos.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shrimpgobies.htm

 

I'm a big fan of the Stonogobiops xanthorhinica Hoese Goby & Randall's pistol shrimp.
In a 46gal it took them 2 months to fine each other.
Now it is very intertaining. This goby is also very intertaining bc. it does not just stay on the bottom of the sand but likes to hover a few inches above it. Also being so tiny he can dart in and out to grab food faster than any fish I have ever seen. (look for more info on this pair for Aug fish of the month)
I picked up both at marinedepotlive.com and could not be happier.

 

Nope

 

Funny you should mention Marinedepotlive.com..

I live in what Virginia calls a "city", or what South Jersey would reluctantly call a town... and our LFS, well, sucks.

I've been browsing many online stores for fish and inverts, only to find prices that greatly vary.

Do you have a favorite? Who has the best prices for shipping? The best deals?