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questions regarding sand

Discussion in 'Aquarium Equipment & Decor' started by littledane, Dec 30, 2008.

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  1. littledane

    littledane Thread Starter Member

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    Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)
    how long does sand usually take to settle? i just set up my 55 gallon tank and put sand in it yesterday. the water is still very cloudy. is there anything i should do to help it settle ie. water change or unplug filter? any advice would be great.
     
    littledane, Dec 30, 2008
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  2. Ryanstech

    Ryanstech New Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    what type of sand did you use? not sure what you mean by settle but you don't want the cloudiness to "settle" it either needs to be filtered out or rinsed out of the sand. playsand is really really dirty, I rinse it for a long time before putting it in and my filters still have some dirt to clean out after.
     
    Ryanstech, Dec 30, 2008
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  3. littledane

    littledane Thread Starter Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    it is aquarium sand. i got it from a friend of mine. he took it out of his 120 gallon when he switched to gravel. it was washed twice before i put it in my tank.
     
    littledane, Dec 30, 2008
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  4. Ryanstech

    Ryanstech New Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    so it actually is the sand floating around that makes it cloudy?
     
    Ryanstech, Dec 30, 2008
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  5. littledane

    littledane Thread Starter Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    yeah it apears that way.
     
    littledane, Dec 30, 2008
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  6. Ryanstech

    Ryanstech New Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    the sand you want to keep should sink right away, not overnight. Is your filter stirring it up maybe?
     
    Ryanstech, Dec 30, 2008
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  7. littledane

    littledane Thread Starter Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    i dont think so. the filter i have on the tank is too small, its a spare filter that i had for my 30 gallon (only themporay until my canister filter comes in) should i do a partial water change or wait anothe day or two.
     
    littledane, Dec 30, 2008
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  8. Ryanstech

    Ryanstech New Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    are you already cycling the tank or did you just now fill it with water? if you're already far into cycling I'd just do good sized water change and wait it out. But a 30 gallon rated filter on a 55 is a pretty slow turnover. your new canister should do the trick :)
     
    Ryanstech, Dec 30, 2008
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  9. littledane

    littledane Thread Starter Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    i filled the tank friday so its still a new cycle.
     
    littledane, Dec 30, 2008
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  10. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    It may be white bacteria. If it is the sand it may take a few days to settle. It did for me when I used play sand.
     
    LemonDiscus, Dec 31, 2008
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  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    Play sand took about two days to completely calm down for me. With all that sand floating around it isn't really advisable to keep the filter running, unless you have a few spare impellars around.
     
    Anonymous, Dec 31, 2008
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  12. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    True, good point. I did tear my impellers up running the pump.
     
    LemonDiscus, Dec 31, 2008
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  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    had the same problem with play sand even after rinsing it several times. i took out the media in my magnum 350 and put the paper filter in, cleared up over night! Magnum 350 rocks!
     
    Anonymous, Dec 31, 2008
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  14. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    Also true. As mentioned in the Product Review section here, it is best at polishing the water.
     
    LemonDiscus, Dec 31, 2008
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  15. littledane

    littledane Thread Starter Member

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    Re: Settling Sand Substrate Causing Cloudy Water (Advice)

    did a partial water change and it cleared right up.
     
    littledane, Dec 31, 2008
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  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

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    Re: setteling sand

    Good to hear that:)
     
    Anonymous, Dec 31, 2008
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  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

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    Sand for Substrate in freshwater (Question)

    Sand in freshwater

    Hey ya'll.. I have a quesiton.. can you put that beautiful sand in a freshwater tank? It looks SO much prettier then the colored rocks I think.

    1 Plecostomus
    1 rainbow shark
    1 something eel
    2 mollys
    2 neons
    10 angels
    2 crabbys     :D
     
    Anonymous, Mar 24, 2009
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  18. James0816

    James0816 New Member

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    Re: Sand in freshwater

    Yep...pool sand makes a very nice substrate.
     
    James0816, Mar 24, 2009
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  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

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    Re: Sand in freshwater

    Just make sure you clean the sand thorougly... I used at 5 gallon bucket and cleaned a small amount of sand at a time. You know the sand is clean when the water is clear after the majority of the sand is settled. It is really a pain but it is well worth it in the end. It is definatley a outside job. Also keep in mind the sand could drastically change the temp of the aquarium water (if the tank is already set up) if washed in extremely cold/hot water. Leave it sit until room temp

    Good Luck... and patience.
     
    Anonymous, Mar 24, 2009
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  20. Guidoman888

    Guidoman888 New Member

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    Re: Sand in freshwater

    You can use sand.. But I think not the normal sand :) It'll just turn into mud
     
    Guidoman888, Mar 24, 2009
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