My Tank is all Cloudy

hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
my tank was setup saturday afternoon. i stirred up all the sand on sunday. it's still as cloudy as it was in the beginning. i have a 180 gallon tank(72 x 24 x 24). i used 250 pounds of southdown tropical playsand and water from a garden hose. the guys that set up the tank said that they didnt like the sand because of how fine it was and said that it will take a long time to settle and the water to clear up, and they said that they arent sure if it would even clear up. how long should i expect my tank to take to clear up? and will it definetly clear up? and is there anything i can do to speed this process up?
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
the salt wasn't premixed...the guys put the salt in the tank, then put the sand in the tank after, making the salt the bottom layer.
 
S

saltyman

Guest
They did not mix the salt in the tank any before adding the sand?
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
they said "it doesn't matter, it will get mixed up either way, whether it is on top or on bottom." my salinity readings dont stay the same. they change everytime i stick the hydrometer in.
i have 40 pounds of live sand, are you suggesting that i should dump it in while my tank is in this state? and if i do what would the bacteria in the sand live off of? and does my salinity level have to be perfect in order for me to put the sand in?
 
iechy

iechy

Member
That sounds really strange to me:confused: It seems like it could take longer for it to dissolve that way since it is not being stirred by water circulation very much. . It could take a while for everything to level out that way(eg: salinity). I also wonder if it does take a while for the salt to properly dissolve and dissapate, would that slow down the cycle? Would the salinity in the DSB be too high for the nitrifying bacteria to grow right or are they pretty tolerant or am I taking this too far? Sharks? Anyone?
 
pstanley

pstanley

Member
I have heard a lot of different opinions as to how "adaptable" the bacteria is to salinity changes. I converted my freshwater tank to saltwater using the same wet/dry filter and never had a cycle in the new tank so I am assuming most of the bacteria did survive.
 
hnf2k

hnf2k

Active Member
a hydrometer. i hate it. if it gets an air bubble on the little arrow it goes way up. so i hafta keep dumping the water out and putting new water in the little thing to get a reading. anybody have anything more hightech that's not too pricey?
 
thavngr98

thavngr98

New Member
just curious which one of the fish store here on the island did this? I want to make sure i dont have them help me. hehe . oh i went to that fishy inc store in bayshore. nice setup but the only opened up 3 weeks ago. they had nothing! none of there tanks look like there established yet either.
 
bob a.

bob a.

Member
Don't know what the water is like in your area, but down here in VA, we have a lot of phosphates in the tap water. Excess phosphates will cause problems in the tank including brown algae. I did the same thing setting up my tank, had to run a phosphate sponge in front of a powerhead for about 4 days to clear it up. Also, the sand tends to clog stuff up. I would consider a mechanical filter over the powerhead intakes to help get the gunk out of there.
 
pyro383

pyro383

Member

Originally posted by thavngr98
just curious which one of the fish store here on the island did this? I want to make sure i dont have them help me. hehe . oh i went to that fishy inc store in bayshore. nice setup but the only opened up 3 weeks ago. they had nothing! none of there tanks look like there established yet either.
It is slowly buiulding up, a work in progress. He has been adding more inventory each week. Les is a great guy to talk to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top