Live sand questions

w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
My roomate has over a 1000 gallons of saltwater between his tanks. After being around them so much, I decided to taek on the hobby and love it! the only thing is that I cant get my tank to clear up all the way. My roomate uses crushed coral bedding for all his beds and his water is crystal clear. I decided to go with live sand because of the benefits and I like the look better. I cant seem to get it to clear up very well. I let the water settle for two weeks before putting in any fish and all the fish in there now are doing great but the tank isnt too clear. I have put in hermits and stars to help, and they have. What else can I do? :notsure:
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
What size tank? Do you have a skimmer? Did you use dry sand or live sand or both? If you used some dry sand did you rinse it first? IMO sand is much better than coral for a substrate. Give us more info and maybe we can help.
 
w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
It is only a 30 gallon tank with 30lbs of live sand. I am running a Whisper 50 gallon dual filter, no skimmer. No dry sand either. Do you recommend using dry sand with the live as long as its rinsed?
 
larryndana

larryndana

Active Member
has it ever looked clear?
How long has the tank been setup?
What do you have in the tank?
does the filter blow the sand around?
 
w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
it has never looked clear, the filter does not reach the sand or blow it around, the fish included are: mandarin goby, knobby star, chocolate chip star, coral beauty angel, humu trigger, porcupine puffer ( i know that its not reef safe, but it leaves teh stars alone), 5 scarlet hermits
 
larryndana

larryndana

Active Member
are you buffering with anything, this could cause precipitation(cloudy water).
are you sure that you have already cycled?
 
w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
Nah, I am not buffering with anything. I have cycled. Are sand tanks supposed to be as clear as crushed coral tanks?
 
sigmachris

sigmachris

Active Member
FWI - what about a bag of carbon? I hear that carbon is supposed to give a clear look as well as being a good filter media.
 
triga22

triga22

Active Member
You have to many fish in there. Take the Huma out and the porcupine because they will cause trouble if not now but later. And they both need big tanks. I have a 29 and All I can do is 2 clowns a yellow watchman and another small fish. I know it sucks but you dont want the fish getting sick. Right. Dont mean to be mean but its for the life of the fish.
 
integral9

integral9

Member
I had this problem when I didn't rinse my dry sand enough. My tank did eventually clear, but I had a super fine residue on the surface of the sand that looked more like a powder than grains of sand. I had to rinse my dry sand about 5 times before I got most of that crud out. I guess you get what you pay for; that was Home Depot sand.
But if you can't do that then I'd suggest maybe doing a 50% water change and suck / siphon the top layer (about 1mm) of your sand off. That should get most of the larger stuff that has already fallen down to the sand and then probably floats back up when critters run by. If that doesn't work, I'd get a cloth / thick mesh filter for a PH like an aqua clear and see if that helps.
 
beatlesfan

beatlesfan

Member
Originally Posted by TriGa22
You have to many fish in there. Take the Huma out and the porcupine because they will cause trouble if not now but later. And they both need big tanks. I have a 29 and All I can do is 2 clowns a yellow watchman and another small fish. I know it sucks but you dont want the fish getting sick. Right. Dont mean to be mean but its for the life of the fish.
Also take the mandarin back NOW. There is probly not enough space in a 30g. Also the tank needs to be at least 1 year old. IMO your going way to fast.
 
w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
As mentioned before, my roomate has quite a few large tanks with open space. Maybe I will acclimate some of these fish on those tanks. I love the fish and want them to be safe, so I will definitely slow down a bit. I also want to buy a 55 gallon tank. In fact, I have a wanted ad in the classifieds. The larger size will hopefully help.
 
w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
Originally Posted by Beatlesfan
Also take the mandarin back NOW. There is probly not enough space in a 30g. Also the tank needs to be at least 1 year old. IMO your going way to fast.

What is the benefit of taking the mandarin back? It eats great (which I have heard is a problem with those). It also was the first fish I bought and seems very happy and active and is left alone by the others. Obviously, the fish's safety comes first, but that is my favorite in the tank and I would prefer to keep it.
 
beatlesfan

beatlesfan

Member
Does in eat frozen/prepared foods? If not I stand with the "take it back" thing. Also (correct me if I am wrong anyone) but the copepods it eats are only liwk 1mm-3mm long. Can you really tell if it is eating? Also people have tried this and it usually does not work because after 6months it will starev to death. Try to take my posts in the gentliest (SP) way possible becuase I am not flaming you , I am simply trying to help
.
 
larryndana

larryndana

Active Member
beatlesfan is correct. the mandarin will eat all of your live stuff in the sand and rock, then die of starvation. they need to eat all day long. make sure his/her body is plump looking, not concave....
 
w116cjb

w116cjb

New Member
nah, I definitely respect your post. no offense taken. I need to know these things because the lfs always fails to mention this advice to newbies. The mandarin does eat though. he is always eating the frozen krill i put in the tank. he is not shy with the other fish when it comes to feeding time. his belly was concave for the first few days but is now full. he constantly sifts the sand and rock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top