dirty sand residue clouding water, I think

ipocap · Nov 12, 2018

Hi I'm new to fish-keeping and received my tank last week so I can cycle it for Christmas and recently filled it up (two days ago) and I'm a bit concerned as to the cloudiness of my water because I was in such a rush to fill my tank with sand I only bathed my sand twice in water before adding. The aquarium guy at my local shop said to wash it till it was clear but I thought twice would be fine. The cloudiness could also be because of salt precipitation (i am using red sea coral pro) but I only mixed it for two hours. If anyone could help that would be great thanks.

PS. I haven't added any bacteria yet just a small ammonia source yesterday

Flippers4pups · Nov 12, 2018

It's the dust from the sand. It will settle and the water will clear in a day or so.

If you have a sump, run a filter sock to catch the dust. If no sump, run a HOB filter with some filter floss and change it out a couple times a day till clear.

Flippers4pups · Nov 12, 2018

On a side note, here's some good reading while you wait for it to clear up:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Oh and welcome to reef2reef! Glad you joined us. If you have any questions, just ask!

Type #reefsquad and we will come to help!

mta_morrow · Nov 12, 2018

Hello and welcome to R2R!

@Flippers4pups gave you good advice and some good reading material!

Study up and please ask any questions!

Happy Reefing!

cromag27 · Nov 12, 2018

no need to worry. i’m impatient too.

ipocap · Nov 12, 2018

thanks for the feedback I will try

Captain Quint · Nov 12, 2018

Welcome aboard ipocap.

What size tank did you get? If not too large you could take water out and stir, siphon out, add water and repeat until clear.

Since your tank has not gone into any cycle process you wouldn't be out anything except a bit of saltwater.

Sometimes it is a bear for new and not rinsed well sand to clear up but filter floss will help.

ipocap · Nov 12, 2018

also @Flippers4pups would a 3 stage carbon ,foam and biomax filter do the job? (I bought the fluval evo 13.5 kit) Its just I'm doing this on a budget so any DIY suggestions would help thanks.

ipocap · Nov 12, 2018

@Captain Quint I have a 52 litre tank with saltwater
yeah I think it might come to that but we'll see

ipocap · Nov 12, 2018

but If I ran it normally for six weeks would it clear up or is it an issue that requires manual attention?

Flippers4pups · Nov 12, 2018

ipocap said:
also @Flippers4pups would a 3 stage carbon ,foam and biomax filter do the job? (I bought the fluval evo 13.5 kit) Its just I'm doing this on a budget so any DIY suggestions would help thanks.

It may. As long as you can place some filter floss in it to help clear the water.

All that dust will settle out of the water collum. Tomorrow you may wake up to a clear tank.

Captain Quint · Nov 12, 2018

ipocap said:
but If I ran it normally for six weeks would it clear up or is it an issue that requires manual attention?

IME I was in a hurry setting up a tank several years ago. It was the about the same size as yours, used floss because I COMPLETELY forgot to rinse and hoped it clear up in a month or so. I swear it clouded up every time I did a water change for many months.

I only suggested it so you would not have to go through the same and its still at an early stage.

JM

Johniejumbo · Nov 12, 2018

I just got through dealing with this same kinda of thing. I hadn’t rinsed my “live sand” when I set the tank up. It cleared up eventually. All was ok until I added in my watchman goby in. He proceeded to sift sand. Which clouded my water horribly. I just got through taking the sand out and rinsing it. Tank is finally clear again. I’ll never not rinse sand again.

Flippers4pups · Nov 12, 2018

Johniejumbo said:
I just got through dealing with this same kinda of thing. I hadn’t rinsed my “live sand” when I set the tank up. It cleared up eventually. All was ok until I added in my watchman goby in. He proceeded to sift sand. Which clouded my water horribly. I just got through taking the sand out and rinsing it. Tank is finally clear again. I’ll never not rinse sand again.

Yeah, it will still be there after it settles.

You could wait till it cycles and when you do your first water change, syphon the sand to get the dust/fines out. It will help.

Captain Quint · Nov 12, 2018

Johniejumbo said:
I just got through dealing with this same kinda of thing. I hadn’t rinsed my “live sand” when I set the tank up. It cleared up eventually. All was ok until I added in my watchman goby in. He proceeded to sift sand. Which clouded my water horribly. I just got through taking the sand out and rinsing it. Tank is finally clear again. I’ll never not rinse sand again.

I don't rinse live sand and really never had cloudiness more than a day with it.

Johniejumbo · Nov 12, 2018

Captain Quint said:
I don't rinse live sand and really never had cloudiness more than a day with it.

I hadn’t ever had a problem with it in the past either. That’s why I didn’t rinse it. Maybe just got an overly dusty batch I don’t know. I just know it was a pita that I could have avoided by rinsing the sand.

IslandLifeReef · Nov 12, 2018

Welcome to R2R!

I would go with @Captain Quint first suggestion and pull the sand and rinse it well. Remix your saltwater and start again. It's much easier to get things started off right than to be chasing problems down the road.