Sand that wont settle - What should i do?

W

Willy

[I got about 45 to 50 lbs of faithwarren's sand from there leaking 1000 gallon tank. I put this into my new tank and it has a 2" to 3" sand bed.

My problem is that it is constantly floating in the water to where i cant even see through to the back. I just moved around the rock alittle and it stirred right back up again. This will not work at all.

What are your recommendations for taking care of this problem. I wouldn't mind removing some of the sand bed to make it a little more shallow.

This is a FOWLR tank that will eventually be a reef in about a year or so. There are not any fish in it at the moment, but there will be soon.]
 
[Are you running strong circulation? if so cut it back.

I used a lot of that sand in my new 180 and with a strong skimmer it was clear in 24 hrs.
Skimmer was pulling out milkshake.

Also check your alkalinity, i was reading another post recently and after that person added buffer their tank cleared.]
 
[Adding liverock will help clear things up, and time. Time allows the bacteria to weigh down the sand, but southdown is famous for being easily waterborne.

This is not a good sand to use with a digging fish (goby), but fine for most reef tanks. Patience is key.]
 
[I think that i will drain the tank and remove the top layer (the more fine layer) and add some buffer (the last time i checked it seemed good though).

Also my skimmer doesn't seem to be removing any of it at all.]
 
[Do you think that i should use the more corse sand from my existing fowlr and put that as the top layer in the new tank. I would move some of the more fine sand into the 20 gallon for a nano.]
 
[If your going to go through the trouble of draining your tank you might as well rinse the sand.

But I would not worry about it, I would let it sit with live rock. As marc said, It will clear up on its own.]
 
[Be patient a little live rock and a couple weeks and it will be perfectly clear! No reason to do anything!]
 
[If i let it settle for a couple of weeks (which i have the patiences to do) wont it stir up again if i have to move the rock at all. And wont the fish in the tank (not currently in there) also stir it up?

Does anyone know of some type of filter that i could maybe siphon my water through that would remove the sand.]
 
[get your hands on a canister filter and use the polishing filter
that will remove all the waterborne sediment in about 2 days.
if this is Live sand, it will also take the critters out of ityou can just "shake it out" in a Sump or refugium to recover some of them]
 
[Once it settles the first time you won't have issues for long again unless you do a major major disturbance. Once the bacteria weigh it down it settles pretty quickly.

The polishing filter Firewolf suggested will work fine but you are taking out the very fine particles that some bacteria like!]
 
[I recommend you leave it alone, and let time take care of it.]
 
[I'm with Marc, your just going to waste your time and money messing with the sand. I've got 120 lbs of southdown in my tank and I went through the same thing. It was milky for a couple of days and after that it would cloud up everytime the fish would mess with it. After a couple of months I can stir up the bottom and the sand will stir and then sit right back down. Patience is key!]
 
[I wouldn't go tearing up the wall to get to your mouse either . . . but I wouldn't just wait either. For 97 cents you can go to walmart and get either the polyfill for pillows or the thicker polyester batting that you can cut. Just place it in your overflow,but don't let it get in your drains. Use nylon screen if necessary. In a few hours you should see a great improvement.

As far as moving the rock around, once your sand is setup for a while, it will eventualy settledown.

Also rinsing your southdown won't help much. You'll get the film off but it will still make your tank milky for a week.]
 
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