# added sand > cloudy water



## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

i just added half the sand to my 200g. there is 100 lbs of sand in the tank right now.

the water is cloudy as sh*t and its been almost an hour.

i washed the sand b4 i put the silica in.

i also added accuclear into the tank to get rid of some of the dust. i put a small internal filter in the tank just to get a little bit of circlulation in the tank.

any ideas? i am adding the rest of the sand in on thursday, by then i should get my other filter from the states.

here are some pics:

View attachment 126944


View attachment 126945


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

fill the tank all of the way up, it will settle in about 1 to 2 days!!!!
start your filters up as well

no worries man


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

yup. it will clear after a day with the filters running


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

fuf

thanks guys, thats what i figured, just out of curiousity, what is the cloudiness in the water. i dont think it is actuall grains of sand. is it just dust?

and will the tank get cloudy like this everytime i clean it?


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

yeah it will clear after a day or so just let it settle


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## Linford (Oct 26, 2006)

The cloud colour is dust particals from the bag packaging the sand came in, thats all.


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## NeXuS (Aug 16, 2006)

as far as i know i dont think it will get cloudy like that everytime you clean it.


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## Morpheus (Feb 12, 2004)

Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear. 
Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


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## mujaman (Oct 31, 2006)

Expect cloudiness every time you clean.

If you didn't rinse this sand... you may want to stir everything up real good in your tank, then siphon out the water. Fill it up again about as full as you have it in the pictures and do this a few more times to get rid of excess fine particles. That way your water will stay clearer in the long run, especially right after cleanings!


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## ruger345 (Jul 8, 2006)

I just added sand today as well and mine is a little cloudy. I added the sand to the tank around 1pm and it is still cloudy.


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## mylesc99 (Sep 5, 2005)

Sand is definitely a lot nicer, it just sucks that you have to deal with the cloudiness. Patience is the #1 key...


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

Morpheus said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?


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## Morpheus (Feb 12, 2004)

Inflade said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?
[/quote]

When u get the new sand rinse it in the bucket for longer than 3 mins, im talkin like 20 mins or somethin and keep stirrin it up so that all the dusty water overflows out of the bucket.
I dont think you need to drain the tank and refill it if you do a good job on the sand before you throw it in. 
Then get your filter on there and get it cycling


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

Morpheus said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?
[/quote]

When u get the new sand rinse it in the bucket for longer than 3 mins, im talkin like 20 mins or somethin and keep stirrin it up so that all the dusty water overflows out of the bucket.
I dont think you need to drain the tank and refill it if you do a good job on the sand before you throw it in. 
Then get your filter on there and get it cycling








[/quote]

cold or hot water? and will the filters clean up the water that is already cloudy or what. also how hard should the tap be on when running for 20 minutes. full blast?

thanks morpheus for ur help. and everyone else who contributed.

lastly what are the final steps i need ot take once the sand is in to get this tank crystal clear??


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## dark FrOsT (Sep 23, 2006)

when i cleaned my sand in for my 135 tank i got a huge bucket and i cleaned it outside with the hose left it running for like 25-30 mins, mixed it her and when i put it in my tank there was zero cloudy water, my suggestion is take more time cleaning it

dark FrOsT


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

thanks, anyone else?

what do i do for the sand that wasnt cleaned as well b4?

drain it and fill it, or what?


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## Morpheus (Feb 12, 2004)

Inflade said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?
[/quote]

When u get the new sand rinse it in the bucket for longer than 3 mins, im talkin like 20 mins or somethin and keep stirrin it up so that all the dusty water overflows out of the bucket.
I dont think you need to drain the tank and refill it if you do a good job on the sand before you throw it in. 
Then get your filter on there and get it cycling








[/quote]

cold or hot water? and will the filters clean up the water that is already cloudy or what. also how hard should the tap be on when running for 20 minutes. full blast?

thanks morpheus for ur help. and everyone else who contributed.

lastly what are the final steps i need ot take once the sand is in to get this tank crystal clear??
[/quote]

Doesnt matter if its cold or hot, youre only cleaning sand man!!!

No the tap doesnt have to be on full blast but I suppose it will help if its disturbing the sand a bit, just not enough to make the sand overflow with the water.

The cloudiness will clear eventually with frequent water changes


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

Morpheus said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?
[/quote]

When u get the new sand rinse it in the bucket for longer than 3 mins, im talkin like 20 mins or somethin and keep stirrin it up so that all the dusty water overflows out of the bucket.
I dont think you need to drain the tank and refill it if you do a good job on the sand before you throw it in. 
Then get your filter on there and get it cycling








[/quote]

cold or hot water? and will the filters clean up the water that is already cloudy or what. also how hard should the tap be on when running for 20 minutes. full blast?

thanks morpheus for ur help. and everyone else who contributed.

lastly what are the final steps i need ot take once the sand is in to get this tank crystal clear??
[/quote]

Doesnt matter if its cold or hot, youre only cleaning sand man!!!

No the tap doesnt have to be on full blast but I suppose it will help if its disturbing the sand a bit, just not enough to make the sand overflow with the water.

The cloudiness will clear eventually with frequent water changes









[/quote]

how many waterchanges? everyotherday? once the tank is clear i will assume normal routine, but i want this baby crystal clear by the time it is done cycling.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

3 min is not nearly enough time to wash play sand. you should be spending about 15 min per bucket washing. since the stuff is in there the only thing you can really do is stir it up as much as possible and syphon the cloudy water out. REpeat this a few times.
On the next batch take more time. Rinse it till the water runs clear and stir it up while rinsing.


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## DC2RJUN (Aug 31, 2004)

Inflade said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?

[/quote]

3 min is nothing, take as long as you need when sturring the sand till when the water runs clear


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## Rick james (May 2, 2006)

I would ake the sand you have in their out. other wise it is going to be cloudy every time it gets stired up. Put the sand in your fish net, and rinse it really well. This may take a little longer to do but the end ressult is definetly worth it. That is just my opion though.

So what are you going to put in that tank?

Rick James


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

Rick james said:


> I would ake the sand you have in their out. other wise it is going to be cloudy every time it gets stired up. Put the sand in your fish net, and rinse it really well. This may take a little longer to do but the end ressult is definetly worth it. That is just my opion though.
> 
> So what are you going to put in that tank?
> 
> Rick James


20 + cichlids untill the spring, then a huge breeding scoal of pygos.


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## NIH23 (Aug 18, 2006)

man its kind of hard when useing sand its hard to clean and deal with


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## NIH23 (Aug 18, 2006)

keep rinseing till it hurts man sand is hard when you stir it it looks milky so just be careful and it scratches your tank but looks good


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

actualy, sand will keep all uneaten food at the top so you can vacuum it up easier.
its pretty simple to have and better for the keeper


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

NIH23 said:


> keep rinseing till it hurts man sand is hard when you stir it it looks milky so just be careful and it scratches your tank but looks good


does it actually scratch tank?


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Inflade said:


> keep rinseing till it hurts man sand is hard when you stir it it looks milky so just be careful and it scratches your tank but looks good


does it actually scratch tank?
[/quote]

If its acrylic yeah. If you scoop it up like a dumbass like I did and slide it along the side of the tank you will have nice scratched to hell sides. Glass shouldnt be such a problem but just try not to scrape stuff up on the walls of the tanks. 
Personally I wouldn't remove it all at this point. Just stir it up and syphon out the cloudy water.


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

i drained and filled a few times. the water looks ALOT BETTER. thanks for the tips guys

i am getting the rest of the sand on thursday.

how much sand should i clean in a large rubbermaid container at a time?


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## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

DC2RJUN said:


> Youre supposed to put the sand in a bucket in your sink first and fill it with water and just let it run over whilst disturbing the sand until the water runs clear.
> Thats what I did with my fine gravel anyway


i rinsed the sand in the bucket for about 3 min. i get the rest of the sand on thursday. when i clean that stuff. i will let the water settle untill friday after school then drain the tank and refill it. then add a filter. will it be ok to throw on my canister and an emp 400 on the tank for cycling? or should i keep adding and then empting the tank? i think the filters should catch up all the dust!

what do you think?

[/quote]

3 min is nothing, take as long as you need when sturring the sand till when the water runs clear
[/quote]
Yeah, I rinsed two bags of 50lbs for about 2hours+.
It went in crystal clear into my tank.









Da Sand Thread


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## kelrx8 (Apr 1, 2006)

as long as your cleaned the sand good, let the filters run.
I just ended up today taking out my sand. I killed my plumbing at my house with the sand after water changes.
back to rock


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