? for bang or kip

[sparky0028]

I have been curing 50lbs of southdown sand in a rubbermaid for about a week and half, I added some flakes and mixed up the sand twice. I tried to put in a half a cup into my tank and PUFF I had a sand storm so thick I could not see in the tank to pour the rest in. My drip plate over the bio balls seems to have a chalkie like coating and also my skimmer has the same coating in the collection cup. What went wrong, did I try this too early. Can I add more or should I wait? :help:

 

[sparky0028]

Kip
I added flakes twice, once in the begging and again when i mix the sand, I had a heater and powerhead. The sg was about 1.020 but I did not take any readings for NO2 and NH3, is that how you tell if is ready?:notsure:

 

[bang guy]

It doesn't matter how long you cure it, it's still going to cause very cloudy water. Curing it reduced the chance of it pulling all your Calcium out of the water and it settles 10X faster.
Is your tank still cloudy? If it has already settled then it's ready.
Reminder, it will cloud your water it should settle in 12 - 24 hours though. It won't harm your fish or inverts. It shouldn't settle on your corals if you have good water flow.

 

[dburr]

The vessel will cycle just like a tank will. After the cycle, you will have the bacteria needed for your display so you won't throw that into a major cycle.
IMO, don't stir it and don't add more food, you should have enough.
Dumping the sand in will always create a sand storm.
I would suggest to put it in a bag first, lower it to the bottom of your display(lay it right down) and slowly dump it out. You may still have some sand blow around.
Dan

 

[sparky0028]

Thanks Bang Guy and dburr.
I put the sand in on Sunday morning, it was about 85 % clear by Sunday evening and by Monday night when I got home it was perfectly clear. I ran all my test monday night and everything was good, would you say the sand is ready or should I wait a few more days?
Once again thanks for the help, just don't want to mess up the tank.