Sand storm in new tank

[allendehl]

Hello guys,

Almost done with my tank setup. I got sea water delivered today and it caught me off guard so I forgot to rinse the sand clean before putting it in. Basically it went from the bag to the tank.
After filling up the tank I had a super cloudy water that started to clear almost immediately. I decided to turn on the power heads and they made a mess lifting sand and clouding the whole tank again. I then realized my mistake.

Would it be a good idea to stir the sand manually to try to clean it up in-tank? The skimmer is already doing a good job, I can see the collection cup starting to fill up with skunk.

Thanks!

 

[James404]

You should be fine. I never rinse my aragonite. It may have a slight haze for a few days, but should get crystal clear.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[allendehl]

Oh yes, forgot to mention that my sand is Caribsea Aragonite Special Grade.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Denbf58]

don't worry it will clear up on its own

 

[mcgyvr]

and FYI.. as bacteria populations increase the sand won't blow around as much as the bacterial mat holds it down/clumps it up more than when its brand new/clean..

 

[mako61]

I made the same mistake with the same sand. It cleared up after a while. I used the infinite syphon trick into a 100 micro sock to get dust out of sand after it settled.

 

[allendehl]

I made the same mistake with the same sand. It cleared up after a while. I used the infinite syphon trick into a 100 micro sock to get dust out of sand after it settled.

What the trick???

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[allendehl]

Than you all very much!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[mako61]

I have a hard clear plastic pipe with a flexible tube attached for cleaning gravel. It is very simple, you just syphon back into your sump instead of another bucket. you pass water coming out of syphon through a filter sock into your sump. I just cable tie a filter sock to the end of the tube Im syphoning with and put that into sump. I clip it in place so I wont accidentally pull it out of sump and make a mess.

The nice thing is you can take your time. The downside is some dust gets through filter sock. I would vacuum a while. Take it out and clean the sock. Wait till the cloudiness cleared up and do it again. I prob did this 10+ times while I was waiting on my tank to cycle. It may have been more about something to do while I waited a couple weeks


I saw a guy do this on youtube. I dont remember the channel.

 

[mako61]

one last thing its easier if you get the sock attached to end of tube and clipped into sump first. Then you need to start syphon using the "no suck syphon" method. You can look that up on youtube. :fun5: ( its easy )

 

[allendehl]

Thanks @mako61!!

I've always wondered, when you siphon doesn't the sand itself gets sucked in??

 

[mako61]

Thanks @mako61!!

I've always wondered, when you siphon doesn't the sand itself gets sucked in??

yes it can be. I pinch the tube and slow flow if sand gets too high in tube. Now that my tank has been going a bit I dont clean sand much/deep. I just skim the top layer to get any loose debris. My sand isnt that deep anyway.