CC to sand

[mamie]

Ok I bought some sand but could not find the brand you all talk about at Home Depot or Lowes. I did get Lighthouse playsand.It says it is sanatised.
Do you have to wash it first? If so how do I go about that?
How long will it take for it to settle down? I have to do something with my fish while I am doing this. I figured a 5 gal. fish ony bucket with a sponge filter I have from a previous set up.
If it taked days though I will have t come up with another idea for my fish.
Thanks for all your help!
Linda

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Two things
1. You really should wash it but you have to do this with salt water so you're not adding problems.
2. Since that's probably not likely I'd say take you time adding it to the tank. - one cup at a time to keep the dust level down.

 

[elan]

i would double check with your sand. Sanitized may mean alot of things. is the sand silicate or calcium based? and how did they sanitze it? with clorine???
for the other issue, washing it out very good will keep your clowdiness to a minimum, although you will be tossing away alot of fine particles of sand wich may be beneficial for your sandbed.
How many fish do you have? you may need to keep your fish out for several days, so a good idea is to take out some extra water and keep it airating without any fish, and do waterchanges for your 5 gallon bucks on a dialy basis until they are ready to go back.

 

[mamie]

I have 6 fish. Three damsels, 2 perc clowns and onw lawnmower blenny.
I am going to check with the sand company now before I do anything else to make sure it is not silicate and how it was sanitsed.
Thanks for all your help.
Linda

 

[cinhark]

I put my new sand in my tank with a long piece of pvc pipe, worked great I only had a little cloudy in my water.

 

[elan]

100 silicate is fine for the tank. Thats what i have in my tank and have had no problems with it.

 

[elan]

but arragonite, or calcium based sand is supposed to be better.

 

[mamie]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I really appreciate it..
Linda