Live Sand

[thereefmaniac]

I bought a 225 Gallon Tank from someone. He had not nearly enough live sand in the tank. Well the tank is been at my house setup with all his fish in it for 2 weeks now. (Large Lion. Powder BlueTang, Adult Emperor Angel and another Large angel {forgot what it is called} So no I bought 3 20lb. bags of Live Sand. I would like to know the best way to put it into the tank. Do I just open the bag and Dump it in???

 

[juddster]

Very slowly!! cut the corner of the bag and shut down your powerheads and filter during the adding process, once you have poured it all in restart your powerheads, your water will be cloudy for a few hours but will settle and clear up after a while. If you have a QT you may want to put your fish in there while doing the process. If you are adding a large amount at once look out for a mini cycle to begin.

 

[joez]

Do you have a skimmer? If so, it'll help clear up the water more quickly. Also, carbon filters help as well...
My 37 gal cleared up in just a couple hours.

 

[darbronnoco]

I would use a piece of tubing from the hard ware store...It may take a while but your tank won't get clody.
good luck
Brad

 

[saltyshark]

Originally posted by Darbronnoco
I would use a piece of tubing from the hard ware store...It may take a while but your tank won't get clody.
good luck
Brad
I second that...This is what I did. I used some spare tubing I had (PVC should be a good substitute) and a funnel and lowered the tubing to the sand bottom. Then I poured it in the funnel and just let it slide. No cloudiness at all. And I didn't think it took long at all. I would add one bag every couple of days or so. Then check you parameters, if everything checks out add another.
HTH
SaltyShark

 

[jumpfrog]

Man, I wish I would of thought of that tubing idea.
I just added a cup at a time. Took a while but the cloudiness settled in about an hour.

 

[jacksonpt]

I added 80lbs LS to an established 75g tank a couple of weeks ago. If it is true LS, clouding shouldn't be a big problem. I cut off one corner to pour the sand out, and the opposite corner to let air in as the sand poured out. I put the bag right in the tank (I wiped it down with a damp towel first to get dust/dirt off). I kept the bag just off the bottom of the tank so the sand didn't have far to go. I had virtually no clouding of the water, none of my fish cared and my mushrooms/anemone barely even complained.