clowdy water

[davester1]

I just installed my sand and after probably 3 200g fills and drains the water is still clowdy (sitting still for 2 days). Does anyone have a cartridge filter I could borrow? Short of that, I was looking at the fluval fx5.

My Buildout Photos

 

[Rogger Castells]

Dave, Did you rinse the sand prior to pour into tank? did you had the water first and then pour sand or viceversa? what type sand did you used? how long ago did you pour the sand?
Let me know so I can help you better

 

[davester1]

Yes

Yes

It's fine aragonite sand.

I poured the sand into the tank, filled half way with fresh water, stirred the crap out of it and drained about 5 times. Each time stirring it up.

About the 5th time it was looking pretty clear.
At that point i drained again and filled with salt water.

Today, I drained 55g into a drum and replaced with fresh water because the salinity was too high. I followed the directions but I believe the sand had alot of salt attached to it, throwing the whole thing off.

At the moment, i have a powerhead in a temporary tub
pumping slowly to test my overflows and plumbing for leads.

The overflow is passing the water thru filter material and coffee filter. (what the heck, ill try anything now).

Do you think an investment in the fluval would be a good one?

From the start, I did not plan to run mechanical filtration. Does anyone else run them from time to time to clear up the water?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Rogger Castells]

I would have rinse the sand in small batches on a smaller 5gal buquet stirring it with my hand while having a hose run water for a while until clear water, the way you did it would have been harder to get all the fine particles and dust out, however, it is not the end of the world and eventually it will settle and clear but it will take longer.
I wouldn't spend the money in a mechnichal filter it is going to be useless once you start your salt water tank and will do minimal as far as getting rid of the cloudiness of the water.
Best thing will be to wait until it clears naturally, probably a couple of days, flow will be important during this time so go ahead and hook up your pump and get it going.

 

[chrisaggie]

I never wash my sand because I think the fine particles are helpful for a DSB. If you run your skimmer and a filter sock it will most likely clear up in a day or so.

 

[davester1]

patience

patience

ok, thanks guys. I will hold off on the filtering and just be patient.

 

[nyvp]

Re: patience

Re: patience

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8893741#post8893741 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by davester1
ok, thanks guys. I will hold off on the filtering and just be patient.

just be patient.....boy have I heard those words alot in this hobby