Sand and Bleach

[TheMainer]

I guess this is a two part question:

1. I have rinsed sand like it was my full time job and it is still cloudy when I mix the sand around in the tank. Should I keep changing the water until the water stays clear after stirring the sand? I probably rinsed 32oz of sand through 10-15 gallons of water (100lbs total), then put it all into my 75g tank. Since then, I have already put in a total of 30 gallons (10 at a time) and replace it. Still cloudy...

2. I rinsed the tank out with water and bleach because I received it from someone else. It still kind of smells like bleach. This worries me a lot because I have been doing everything I can do make sure that the first time I put fish in, it's ready to go and wont have problems. Is there anything I can do to make sure there isn't enough bleach left on the glass to kill the fish? Something I can put in my filters?

 

[OCCFan023]

1) Just give it some time and let it settle, it will eventually become clear.

2) I never really use bleach to clean a tank, I just use ammonia. I dont know if it will have ill effects, but Im prettyu sure if it was still in the tank, when you try to fishless cycle (assuming you are) that the beneficial bacteria wont be able to survive causing you to not see a cycle. Im not 100% positive but thats what I think may be the case

 

[Lotus]

You can add extra dechlorinator to the water to remove the chlorine (bleach). It will dissipate in a few days, too.

 

[TheMainer]

Few. I asked at PetsMart and they said to use watered down bleach, so that's what I did. I guess I will just have to hope for the best. I guess I can use the cycling as an indicator. Thanks for the info.

 

[FroggyFox]

Your sand should settle within a few seconds of stirring it up. If it is still really cloudy then you need to do some more water changes because that sand can wreak havoc on your filter's moving parts. I'd stir it up...wait a minute or so...and then take all the water out. Then fill the tank up with say 4 inches of water....stir it up...wait a minute and take the remaining water out...and repeat as long as it still looks cloudy.

Like Lotus said, just add some extra dechlorinator to your water and it will 'deactivate' the bleach. I'd rinse some extra water over anywhere that might have been touched with bleach.