Oolite sand

[andy28115]

Mods please move if wrong section. I have a fluvAl 13.5 that stays cloudy. I am wondering if it could be the sand? My Powerhead blows it around some. Tank is six weeks old, cycled and all parameters are in range. It seems too long to be a bacterial bloom.

 

[fishface NJ]

did you wash the sand well before adding it to the tank? Did you try replacing the water? photo?

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

If you didn't use the biomagnet packet included with the sand then I would give that a shot. I have a 125 with oolite sand and it does take a lot of time for that stuff to clear up. I did not rinse my sand at all.

 

[andy28115]

Bio magnet used, no washing as it was live in a wet bag. It looks like free floating particulates.

 

[minus9]

Oolite is best utilized in a DSB, special grade is probably one of best sized sands for most reef tanks, especially where flow can kick things up a bit. In lower flow oolite can work, but I would only use a small layer, probably less than an inch, if that?

 

[andy28115]

This is running 3-4 inches depending upon location in tha tank.

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

I point all of my flow towards the surface, but still have sand shift around the tank without cloudiness. It took a long time for that stuff to eventually settle in my sump making everything look like it was covered in dust. Once I got the skimmer going that helped too. I eventually stuffed filter pad in between baffles and ran carbon and the tank is super clear now. The filter pad was a temporary thing as it had to be changed often or it could cause a flood.

 

[andy28115]

Thank you, I will wait it out

 

[dedragon]

I wouldnt use oolite for most tanks unless going for ultra low flow as it will just blow around the whole tank because of the small particle size. It should be pretty easy to siphon out and replace with reef flakes, special grade, crushed coral, aragonite, etc if you want to run regular flow