Did I already screw up?

[powerfulalex]

Hey everyone, I just bought an evo 13.5, with a fluval 100W heater, everything else in the tank is stock.
Alright so I rinsed caribsea aragnoite with tap water a bunch of times and then again with RO water, I added it to the tank and added about 6 gallons of water at room temperature, i then stupidly added the 10, 1/2 cups of salt to the water and continued to add the rest of the water to the tank. There's a powerhead in it, the thermometer is now beginning to warm up the tank, but the water is EXTREMELY cloudy. Will the salt eventually mix? Or should I empty out the water and start again by mixing less salt at a time lol.

 

[EW_Fish]

I would have added the water and salt first let it mix then add the sand

 

[DancingShark]

I am sure you will be fine. I added sand, then rodi water, then salt to a 125g tank. Turned the power heads on and it eventually mixed.

 

[NinnJinn]

Might take a couple of days but it will settle down and your water will be clear

 

[PatW]

I always mix my saltwater separately. But people mix saltwater in their tanks on the initial fill all the time. I have ever heard anything terrible happening because of it. My salt water is usually clear within 4 hours of mixing.

I would think that your cloudy water is not the result of undissolved salts.
I think it is from fine sediment from your sand. You can take sand and wash and wash and wash and wash it and it never seems washed enough. If you have filter socks the water should clear up.

 

[Greybeard]

If it's the salt, it'll clear soon.

If it's the sand, which IMHO is more likely, it'll take a bit longer.

When I rinsed the 80lbs of 'special reef grade' (larger granular size) sand I bought for my 140, it took me a stack of 5g buckets, a hose, and half a day of rinse, stir, drain, repeat. It's a ton of work to get all that fine sediment out. Most folks don't bother. Over time, it'll settle, or get filtered out by socks, or siphoned out with a gravel vac. Just takes time.

Time, by the way, is the single most valuable investment you can make in your reef. Yeah, you can throw money at it, but nothing makes for a better looking reef than a diligent, capable aquarist.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Since it is new it should be fine. Nothing much alive in the tank to be concerned about. Just check the powerhead and heater for any precipitation in case it was from the salt. I agree it is likely from the sand.

As you probably know, one should always add salt to the full amount of water to avoid precipitation and get a good mix.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Oh, and welcome to R2R!

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R! looks like everyone above got it pretty much sorted out for you

#WelcometoR2R

 

[Mr. Bill]

Welcome to R2R!

Like other have said, it's more likely from the sand. Aragonite and other calcium carbonate sands are relatively soft, so the more you rinse, the more dust you create. Either way, it'll be clear in a couple of days.

 

[Will Milberger]

Howdy!

 

[Kremis]

When I added sand to my tank first it took about a week to fully clear

 

[Dennis McGrath]

Hey everyone, I just bought an evo 13.5, with a fluval 100W heater, everything else in the tank is stock.
Alright so I rinsed caribsea aragnoite with tap water a bunch of times and then again with RO water, I added it to the tank and added about 6 gallons of water at room temperature, i then stupidly added the 10, 1/2 cups of salt to the water and continued to add the rest of the water to the tank. There's a powerhead in it, the thermometer is now beginning to warm up the tank, but the water is EXTREMELY cloudy. Will the salt eventually mix? Or should I empty out the water and start again by mixing less salt at a time lol.

I have the exact same tank and I premixed the saltwater and still had cloudy water for 2 days. One thing that might help is micron media over the filter sponge to catch particulates floating around.

 

[powerfulalex]

Perfect! Thanks for all the help guys. So it was much clearer this morning, then I moved the powerhead (its hanging in from the top of the aquarium, I need to return it for a smaller size so I didn't put it against the glass yet) and it caused it to go cloudy again, so it's for sure from the reef rocks. Should I use a gravel cleaner to clean the aragonite again? Am I able to add live rock if the salinity and temperature is good? Or should I clean the gravel and make sure the water looks clear before buying the rock?

 

[Jesterrace]

Just make sure you have a refractometer to check the salinity of your water and as long as it is between 1.020 and 1.026 you should be fine for cycling (before you add fish, corals, inverts you want to keep it between 1.024 and 1.026). Beyond that all new tanks with sandy bottoms will be cloudy for the first few days (carbon will help clear it up).

 

[40B Knasty]

If it was live sand. You would have killed the beneficial bacteria with the tap water. Other than that. Don't sweat it like others have stated, because it is going take a bit for the tank to cycle. Use some Prime in your tank. 1 drop per gallon. It is a water conditioner that will detoxify chlorine or chloramine. Which ever it is that your water treatment plant uses. Also whenever you go to mix salt and water for the future. Say if you are going to do a 5 gallon water change. Use Prime in the mixing 5 gallons of saltwater. Then you are not adding chlorine or chloramine back into your display tank.