Habitat - Indoor :: I'm in trouble....

[Lizzia]

Hi Everyone,
As you might know by now, I am new to taking care of red ear sliders. Jeffrey, the crushed sinus and broken jaw wild RES that I'm taking care of, just got an upgrade in aquarium size. But stupid old me put sand from a weather ditch, which we live close by, in there thinking it would be OK. Well I guess you can all see why I am in trouble... I didn't wash the sand. Now the water is all red like the wolf river around Collierville, TN. Should I dump all the water out and remove all the sand. It will take a lot of work and time, is there any other way to correct this major problem? I'm sorry to present this to you all. Any help will be appreciated!
May the Sacred Heart Bless You,
Lizzia

[Love of Animals]

So sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you're going to have to start again. Pool filter sand or play sand from a hardware store is best. And you still have to wash it first. Good luck with your rescues.

[xfallwithmexo]

I'd agree and the sooner the better

[steve]

Pool filter sand will require the least effort to prepare. But, you can also leave the tank bare if you don't have the time to prepare anything.

[Lizzia]

Thanks to Love of Animals, xfallwithmexo, and steve for all your help. Everything is taken care of and I guess I can use play sand if I want to put sand in there. May God Bless You All!!!!!

[seanb1979]

I have two docks and one has a sand bed on it. The turtles always take a little with them in the tank and I use the play sand from home depot thats about 4 bucks a bag. It does cloud up the water a little but it's not harmful. Just vacuum it like you vacuum gravel and the larger pieces will be left behind, so over time the cloudiness will diminish.