# Annoying Cloudy Water



## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

I added play sand to my tank yesterday, and even though I rinsed *most of it* it made my tank so cloudy I couldnt see a thing inside it. I know it will settle and go away, and it was clearing up quite a bit, then i just turned over the wood in there to get the sand off of it, and more huge clouds went up. My question is, once the sand settles, and I do a water change and stir up the sand, or plant some plants, will it cloud up the water for days again?

My tank is a 30gal and its still cycling, but would it help if I stired it up as much as I could, then did an 80% water change?


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Can't never rinse it enough & sounds like you didn't even rinse all of it.. Its easier to clean in a bucket imo. Lots of waterchanges for you


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2011)

Doesn't look like you rinsed it properly like Bruner said. Best thing to do like Bruner said is water changes. You can run an extra filter filled with polishing media if you want to help clear it all up.

Any fish in the tank?


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

Well I did rinse 3/4 of it for a good 20 mins in a bucket, but the water just wouldn't clear up so I put it into the tank. It is clearing, but stirs up if I move the sand around. No fish yet, hoping to get an elongatus if I can find somebody to combine orders with from below water.


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

you gotta rinse it like 30 times or until it gets clear


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

yeah.. I'm thinking I will just stir it up as much as I can, drain and fill, and then repeat until its clear.


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## amazonjungle (Jun 6, 2011)

ewwww just avoid the whole issue and use another substrate


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## Smoke (Sep 8, 2010)

Some sand causes cloudiness... that's normal. No need to change substrate, just rinse or siphon it out. After a while it will settle anyways.


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

Okay this morning its settled down and almost gone, I'm just afraid that if I stir it up then it will cloud again..


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

The lazy one works double







... rinse and siphon a few times to eliminate as much dust as possible...


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

Mr. Hannibal said:


> The lazy one works double
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah.. I'm workin on it







lol looks alot better now though.


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## 0S1R1S (Aug 29, 2010)

Restricted- said:


> Well I did rinse 3/4 of it for a good 20 mins in a bucket, but the water just wouldn't clear up so I put it into the tank. It is clearing, but stirs up if I move the sand around. No fish yet, hoping to get an elongatus if I can find somebody to combine orders with from below water.


A 30g tank won't house an Elong for very long. They are agile swimmers and need more length in a tank foot print than other fish. I would rethink your tank strategy relatively soon.


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

0S1R1S said:


> Well I did rinse 3/4 of it for a good 20 mins in a bucket, but the water just wouldn't clear up so I put it into the tank. It is clearing, but stirs up if I move the sand around. No fish yet, hoping to get an elongatus if I can find somebody to combine orders with from below water.


A 30g tank won't house an Elong for very long. They are agile swimmers and need more length in a tank foot print than other fish. I would rethink your tank strategy relatively soon.
[/quote]

Its 2", I was hoping to house it for a few months or so until I can get a new tank for it.


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## Piranhas_FTW (Jun 7, 2011)

Restricted- said:


> Well I did rinse 3/4 of it for a good 20 mins in a bucket, but the water just wouldn't clear up so I put it into the tank. It is clearing, but stirs up if I move the sand around. No fish yet, hoping to get an elongatus if I can find somebody to combine orders with from below water.


Well if you want clear water take time to rinse it, what I did was:
Take the tank outside
Put the sand in the tank
Use a garden hose and swish water around and take your hand and mix it around
Dump out the water slowly
Then repeat
Multiple times 
Over and over
Nope you're not done yet
A few more time
Ok the waters clear 
Dump out the excess water and take your tank to where you want it


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

The water is mostly clear, until I stir up the sand again. Tomorrow I am going to fill and drain a few times just to clear the rest of it up. Next time I will rinse it the right way before


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

the water is still a tad cloudy, been like that for a few days, any ides how to get rid of it?


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## Guest (Jul 1, 2011)

ya, remove sand. Place it in a bucket or big rubber made container, stir and rinse, stir and rinse. Then repeat again and again until it is completely clear. Sand sucks just for that reason. It takes forever to prep for the tank.


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

This is the first sand that clouded my tank for more than a couple days, I might just wait a day or 2 to see if it clears up and then if not, i guess i gotta put a little more work into it..


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

alright i drained all the water and sand, rinsed it for like half an hour, put it back in the tank, filled and it was still cloudy like before i took it out. not so cloudy that i cant see the back of the tank but cloudy enough that looking at it from the side i cant see all the way through.


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## Restricted- (Aug 21, 2008)

Update, seems to be clearing alot faster now, i can see through the whole tank.


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