I FINALLY DID IT

[thereefman52]

Ok, i finally just put the 50 lbs Southdown sand in my tank over my live sand HOLY **** i cannnot see anything!!!! it looks like someone just threw dirt in there and stirred it.. and it isnt settling. I have everything out of the tank tho. My question is.. do you think it is safe to put the fish back in with it like this??? a flounder, damsel, and cleaner wrasse??? what should i do/????

 

[flydan]

Hey,
I agree that you should wait for things to settle down. That fine grit that is floating around will irratate the gills of your fish if you put them in right now. If you haven't done so already, I would turn off any powerheads that you have running as long as nothing is in there anyway. That will help things settle.

 

[thereefman52]

Thanx.. i had put the fish in a 2 gallon bucket.. only a flounder, cleaner wrasse and damsel.. not knowing the tank would take this long.. and I knew that it was going to happen when i left them in there over night.. they died but now can do things slow and right... with this sand tho.. when the sand gets any movement it puffs up a huge cloud. what happens when it settles and i put it some fish that move a little sand.. is this always going to happen?

 

[q]

I believe as it gets collonized with bacteria and matures it will stick to gether better.
Some one correct me if I am wrong.

 

[silent bob]

also leave all pumps and filters off

 

[delphinbella]

As soon as some rocks and organisms start making the sand thicker it wont puff up a cloud anymore. You may just have to wait a while... Before it settles completely you may want to turn the powerhead back on and let it settle with that running, if there is lr and stuff for it to settle under My tank took a couple days to completely settle, then I turned the powerhead back on once it was completely clear, and it all just whoosed back up again, but it settled down fairly quickly after that.

 

[friendofthedevil]

leave your filters off they will collect sand and destroy themselves

 

[twoods71]

When I added sand to my 55 it was a big dark cloud also. I tried leaving everything off and waited for the sand to settle. I waited about 12 hours and still a big dark cloud. So I took my power filter filled it with as much filter material as possible and within 2 hours the tank was crystal clear.