Habitat - Indoor :: Sand problem

[vear]

I have a major sand problem. I bought some playsand last week from Home Depot. Washed it (in my tub, because I live in an apartment, so I have no access to a hose outside). I put it in the tank and it wasn't just cloudy, it was ridiculous! I couldn't see inside the tank at all. After about 3 days, it started to clear up a bit... still cloudy but I could see inside. So... being an idiot, today I noticed that the sand bed wasn't at all even so I stuck my hand inside and slooowly moved some sand to some bare spots. ::sigh:: Now my tank is just as cloudy as it was the first day!!

I was really really hoping that the tank would clear up by Thanksgiving (Thursday) so I could show it off to the family. However, I think I really messed things up by moving things around. My filter is supposed to arrive in the mail tomorrow.... Rena XP4. Should I run it right away? Will I have problems? Do you think it will help me clear up the water? Somebody also told me that they used some chemical that clumps up the sand that's suspended and settles it right away... it was a while back when they kept fish, so they don't remember what it was... anybody know?

[papoopeepoo]

how did you rinse the sand off in your tub? it can take much longer to remove tiny particles in the sand than you'd expect.

i wouldn't run your filter right away because the grainy-ness of the sand or any particles may damage your tubing and impeller, not to mention your filter media.

when you swish the sand around with your hand it shouldn't cloud the water very much if it was cleaned properly. if anything, it should settle down pretty quickly because it's much more dense than the water itself.

[BullDog]

Is the turtle in there?
If not, do several full water changes. I just put some fine sand in my new betta tank, and it took about 4 full water changes to get it clear enough to be presentable.
Here's how I did it:
Rinsed the sand until it was clear. When I put it in the tank, the water looked like mud. Let it settle for an hour or so, then did a full water change. If you can avoid it, try not to kick up the sand too much when you fill it back up. Then I let that settle for at least an hour, did another water change. By the 3rd water change I could at least see the background of the tank. Let that settle for a couple hours, then ran the filter overnight with filter floss and carbon. Did one more water change the next morning, rinsed out the filter media, and by the afternoon it was "reasonably" cloudy. It's been a couple of days and it still has a minor bit of cloudyness, but it's not bad.

Now, the only thing: Full water changes are easy in my 5 and 15 gallon tanks. A 90gallon tank that many water changes would be a huge pain. But I would say even one water change will help clear it up.

I'd be wary of running your new filter to clear it up though. My filter is ancient, and I wasn't worried about getting a bit of sand in it. But you wouldn't want to ruin a brand new filter.

[vear]

Yeah... I think I really messed up doing this. I washed the sand in 3 batches (50lbs of it) in a bucket. I put it in a pillow case and let the faucet run, I'd shake it up and keep going. The first batch took a looong time to clear up, the second one not as much... I guess it wasn't enough time - I should have known. I have a 75 gallon tank so, the water changes are going to be a pain... but I'll do what I have to. I definitely won't run the new filter yet, I don't want to ruin it.

The turtle is still in the tank... it's getting late though so he's just hanging out on his ramp. BTW I found the stuff that's supposed to settle any dirt in the tank - I'm going to get some tomorrow, if it doesn't work I'll start the water changes.

[papoopeepoo]

how much depth is 50 pounds giving you iny our 75 gallon tank?

i'm considering getting sand for next spring, but i'm comparing pros and cons. I'm thinking I'm going to need about 150 pounds to get about an inch and a half of depth in my 6 foot long by 18 inch wide tank.

[vear]

I get about an inch - the tank is 4ft by 18". I was going to add 100lbs, but 50 was enough.

[elwray]

I went through this a few times, I have 4 tanks with hardware store play sand in them (sure is cheaper than the pet store store stuff!!).

First, it takes a LOT more effort to fully wash the sand than you might think. I have 100-150lbs in my 75 gallon and it was very cloudy when I first put it in. Ended up doing multiple water changes to get it somewhat clear, then let the filter run.

I'm not that familiar with that filter, but if you have a cartridge for it you should be able to run it once you do a few water changes, if it operates similarly to mine:

The water is drawn in THROUGH the filter floss or cartridge, then to the impeller. Because of this, the bigger pieces that could do the most damage to the impeller are stopped. If you run it, just keep an eye on it and clean it when it starts filling up with sand (it will do so fairly quickly over the day).

Also, hit the hardware store and get an adapter to fit a hose to your faucet, so you don't have to run buckets. You can also hook up a siphon "gravel vacuum" with a threaded hose barb to the hose to do drain water right into the tub/sink (make sure it's anchored so it doesn't wander onto the floor!)

I would personally do all of this before adding any kind of flocculant to the tank to settle the particles. I prefer not to use chemicals unless absolutely necessary.

[vear]

Yeah, my tank is crystal clear now, I did end up adding the water clear stuff, it helped some and then I ran the filter with the filter floss. It was amazing how clear the tank was after about a day. I rinsed the filter well and now my tank is nicely set up. I kind of want to add more sand, but maybe some other time. This was a lot more work than I wanted it to be.

[Abomb]

Having insane experience with this probelm with my salt water tanks heres a solution for those that have a spare tank to use as a resivour and 2 sphion set.

take shipon set #1 place a sock filled with coffe filters use a rubber band to hold those on. place that mess in the 2nd tank and start a sphion to fill it up.

shipon set #2 fill the collection tube with coffee filters and run end to primary tank. start the sphion and run water from little tank back to primary.

takes a few hours but works really well,

you could also use a bucket now that i think about it

[adam85491]

I used a 3 dollar bag of sand I got from Lowe's in my tank. I put it in a bucket and left the hose (I would think any running water would do the trick) for maybe 15 minutes. I also stirred the bucket about half way through. Dumped the water out and shoveled it into the tank. It settled mostly within a few minutes and was clear within an hour.

[vear]

I got the same $3 bag... haha... only I don't have an "outside" so no hose. I left the water run in my tub. I can't believe you only rinsed for 15 minutes and it was fine! I must have rinsed it for like an hour and my tank was a mess!

[adam85491]

How did you rinse it without clogging the drain? I think the key here might be using a hose because I put my thumb over it to create a stronger flow and I also stirred it and moved the hose to the bottom.

I also scooped it in and tried to put it on the bottom instead of dumping it all in at the top...yes the tank had water in it while I did this. I've also had the same sand for about 5 months with no algae, so maybe I'm just lucky.

[vear]

I had the sand in a pillowcase inside the bucket so really only the "dust" comes out of the pillowcase. I also have a small strainer on the drain that caught loose particles. I wish I would have been able to use a hose, but that wasn't possible. That's obviously the best method. My back was killing me by the end of all the washing and I still didn't wash it well enough.

I'm just glad my water is crystal clear now. Maybe I'll add more sand when I can actually rinse it well. For now my tank looks great.