sand clouded up tank!!

[Morrisons]

at first I added 50lbs of sand to my 55 gallon tank and it clouded it up very badly. I waited 4 days and it completely settled with clear water but anytime I touch the sand it clouds up my tank again. I can see a thin layer of dust looking particles laying on top of the sand. how to I get rid of it?? please help!!
thanks

 

[Da Maui life]

No mention of what brand of sand, and did you wash it more than once. I'd take it back out, use a sieve and wash all the silt out.

 

[Jritter02]

You gotta rinse that out real good before putting it in the tank or that will happen.

 

[Morrisons]

It's the "Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand, 20 lbs." from petco. Since the sand was 'live' we didn't think we should have rinsed it out first.

Would we need to rinse it in salt water? Or could we use fresh water for the rinsing?

-Mike

 

[Jritter02]

RO water probably wouldn't hurt. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Def don't use tap water IMO. How fine is the sand? I used live sand for mine and didn't rinse it and I didn't cloud up.