Plain play sand?

[ken s]

ok, i am doing my own experiment. i purchased some play sand from K-mart. the package says fully rinsed and sterilized. it is a fine white sand. i have it in a 29 gallon tall tank, 5 pound piece of live rock and my 2 damsels. salinity is 1.022, temp 80, ph 8.3, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20. calcium 400, alkalinity ok by my test kit. my question is... the top of the sand seems to be forming a crust. i was told not to put in a clean-up crew till the nitrates drop below 10. should i use something to keep the sand loose so nitrates can can be eaten by the bacteria? oh, the sand is 5 inches deep. how long does it take to form a DSB without using live sand as a starter?
thanks

 

[ken s]

i guess i dont need anyones help then

 

[wrassecal]

I don't know how long but, with only 5 lbs of live rock, I'm thinking it's going to be a really long long time. Can you at least get more live rock in there, that would help.