Unrinsed Sand

rosealeedawn

rosealeedawn

Medium Fish
#1
Jul 12, 2005
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#1
Umm, eagerness and age have gotten the better of me and I have neglected to rinse my mix of 100lb of playsand (I now read I could have gone with what was my prefered choice, silica) and 50lb of crushed coral when putting it in my uncycled tank. Running filtration is a skimmer (which is extracting a green sludge which smells similar to detergent...is this normal?) and an Emporer 400 with 1 L of Matric rocks and a couple of double carbon baskets.

The water is somewhat clearer than it when the sand was dumped four or so hours ago, but I am concerned.

If the water hasn't cleared significantly by the morning, is there a fine filtration media than I can put in my Emporer to clear my water?

I am considering the possiblity that it my not be fair to expect a 90G tank to clear as fast as my only other experience did, my now replaced 30G FW. Is so is there still anything I need to do?...even as far as draining my water and starting anew?
 

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Fballvera22

Large Fish
#2
Sep 15, 2004
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Tucson, AZ
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#2
I had this problem too. I got a butt load of sand from a lady who was moving so i assumed that it was clean. Well, we all know what happens when we assume. Except it only made an a## out of me. I started with an empty tank and put in the sand. Then in went the water and it was sooo cloudy. I wanted it clearer faster so i filled up the tank about 5 inches above the sand and swished the sand around. Then i siphoned the water out. Then i filled it up again and repeated the process 7-8 times. After I was finished the water was near clear and by morning was almost crytal clear. I am lucky though and my apartment complex pays for my water, so they get to foot the bill.

IF that is not an option there is universal filter media at most LFS such as Petco and Petsmart that you can stick in place of the cartridges that hold media such as carbon or what not.
 

rosealeedawn

rosealeedawn

Medium Fish
#3
Jul 12, 2005
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#3
Fballvera22 said:
IF that is not an option there is universal filter media at most LFS such as Petco and Petsmart that you can stick in place of the cartridges that hold media such as carbon or what not.
Click to expand...
Thanks Fballvera22. Can I get a name, or is it just Universal Filter?
 

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Fballvera22

Large Fish
#4
Sep 15, 2004
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Tucson, AZ
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#4
Here is just an example of filter media:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...<>ast_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1121592428648

Your best bet is to just go into your LFS and see what they have. Obviosly the more dense the pad is the better. It make take and hour or two for it to start working. Let the filter get pretty dirty before you rinse it. The bigger perticals will fill in some of the holes and catch the smaller stuff.

Hope that helps
 

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Yazoo1970

Medium Fish
#9
Apr 29, 2005
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#9
patience the sand will settle no use in putting yourself through all of the trouble it might take a couple of days for it to settle completly but it will the tank is going to be unattractive while you are in the building process anyway you can't set it up and have a show tank the next day it will settle but i would wait for it to settle before you put anything else in the tank as it will settle on that to and you will have to stir it up again
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#10
May 16, 2003
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#10
I would turn off your filters ASAP. Sand can do SO much destruction to anything with moving parts. You didn't rinse the sand at ALL?? Usually about 1/2 of it rinses out as little particles. 100% water changes in a tank that large probably aren't too feesable...but I think I'd take sand out in smaller increments and put them into a pillowcase. run the pillowcase under water and squish it around until the water is pretty clear coming out of it. For a few pounds of sand it takes me like 10 minutes until it rinses clear. The goal is to have sand that you can pick up a handful and drop and have it all settle to the bottom within a few seconds so that it doesn't cloud your water and make things impossible for your filters to pick up.

Have you read this sand FAQ? I realize its in the freshwater section...but it has a lot of helpful info. http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13624
Edit: The first tank I used sand in...I thought I rinsed it...but it was SO cloudy after a few hours that I did like 3 more 100% water changes. Then after a day or so it finally cleared up...but got clearer every water change afterwards. Bear in mind thats freshwater so larger water changes are usually done and there aren't as many critters to mix the sand up as in SW. Once you get some inverts sifting in the sand they will be constantly kicking it up so you want to be able to have it as clean as possible. It took me like 4 more tanks to realize exactly how much it needed to be rinsed...and the pillowcase actually ended up working the best.
 

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rosealeedawn

rosealeedawn

Medium Fish
#11
Jul 12, 2005
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#11
I ended up adding a pad designed to remove fine particles to my filter and it has done a pretty good job at removing the dust from the unrinsed sand and coral. However there are still some extremely small particles being kicked up by the emporer and I was wondering if it would be advisable to use some kind of clear water solution - the drops of fluid which bind fine particles together so the filter can take them out.
Thankyou as always for the advice in advance. *SUPERSMIL
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

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#13
May 16, 2003
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#13
I'm not sure why you're trying to throw money at the problem instead of just doing water changes. They're free and will get rid of the problem! Turn your filters off...swish the sand around....let it settle for a couple minutes and then drain the tank and refill. If your sand doesn't settle within a few seconds then do another one. I think you'll be surprised how much damage sand is doing to your filter, at the very least shortening its life and bogging down its effeciency.

Usually the particulate clear chemicals are for organic particles...like P-Clear by hagen. I've used it with bacteria blooms or algae blooms...but I dont think I'd reccomend one of those formulas for sand. (esp again...because it costs money, new filter pads cost money, new filters cost money and water changes are FREE).

Edit: You know what...actually how many days has it been since you filled the tank up with saltwater? My SW took about 4 or 5 days to clear up completely....it was just the salt. Not the sand. As you said you didn't use normal playsand...(the silica) Whats your temperature at? If you turn the heat up just a tad (put the tank at say 78 or so) and wait for the salt to mix in completely...maybe thats the problem...and its not really the sand afterall.
 

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Peterock

Small Fish
#14
Jul 14, 2005
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#14
One good thing to do also is after adding the sand and water put 1 shrimp from the grocery store in there and let it decay this will do two things

As the shrimp decays it will start the bacteria cycle and bacteria will cling to the partlicate sand and weigh it down causing it to sink and clear up the water I have done this step on every saltwater tank i have and even on my clients tanks and it works.
 

rosealeedawn

rosealeedawn

Medium Fish
#15
Jul 12, 2005
62
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#15
Thanks Froggy.
I'm trying not to throw money where I don't need, that is why I'm not understanding why your implying that a complete water change is free. 100lb of salt is surely needed and that isn't free. It may only be $30, but I really am trying to keep the costs down so to afford the live rock needed for the tank I have in mind. This project has rapidly grown from simply upgrading my 30FW to SW to setting up a large 90G with sump.
I hope the particles in the water are just undissolved salt. The water looks clear but there are obviously undissolved particles observable in the filter outlet. I did try some crystal clear drops last night (had some in the closet) but they don't seem to have done much.

PeteRock,
I have heard of that shrimp trick before and I think it's a great idea. Much preferable for a dead shrimp to go through the ammonia spikes of a cycling tank, than a hardy damsel or clown.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
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#16
May 16, 2003
8,589
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#16
oy...the FW mentality strikes again, I'm sorry. I didn't even think of the salt cost. I'm still in the process of converting one small tank to salty and doing my research for the big tank...but my experience has been with FW. IF your tank was FW the water changes would be free minus the dechlorinator cost. *BOUNCINGS

How big of a suspended mess does your sand make when you pick up a handful and drop it? I know with the playsand the water pretty much turns to mud if you haven't rinsed it...and I've never used the crushed coral. I still think that buying a new filter and filter pads and particulate clear that might or might not work, would cost more than a big water change...however I guess now I'd err on the side of "wait a few days to see if its really just the salt".

You could take a bowlful of the sand out...rinse the saltwater out of it...and then see how long it takes to wash the sand before it gets as heavy as you want it (ie all the floating particles out) as an illustration to yourself how many water changes its going to take...or maybe figure out a plan of action?
 

Luvi

Luvi

Medium Fish
#19
Feb 23, 2005
85
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San Francisco, California
#19
To Froggy Fox:

I have just started a thread asking why my water is cloudy... I guess I should have check this thread and you have pretty much answered the question. I will try doing more water change. And oops- my brand new tank/filter has been running for 1 day now and I am still at work can't turn it off till I get home. I will turn it off immediatly hoping the sandy water won't do much damage.... I will need to sacrify one of my pillow cases too :(

Thanks so much for sharing your exerpieces. *thumbsups
 

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