tiffbritty
Member
will the sand smother the creaters i have in my tank if there is a thin layer of sand settled on top of the coral and fether dusters?
sand
- Thread starter tiffbritty
- Start date
wrassecal
Active Member
Here I am again. I really need to get off this board and get something constructive done today. Anyway, once your tank clears it's probably going to look like someone sprinkled baby powder all over everything and when you try to blow it off it starts up a new cloud. It'll be like that for several days and then the bacteria binding will set in and it won't cloud up anymore. I used a turkey baster to gently blow off my corals and rocks, Had to do it everyday for several days. I'd say it was 5 days total before everything looked really great!
tiffbritty
Member
well i thought i getting the right live sand but i guess i was wrong. someone said on my other post that what i bought was not true live sand that the prepackage live sand doesn't have the live little critters and stuff like that .well now im down in the dumps with this hole thing because i asked the lfs they said it was again i was lied to by lfs i'm tiered of paying a lot of money and not getting what you paid for. <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />
ed r
Member
Try not to be discouraged. A lot of things in this hobby don't go as smoothly as we would like. If you used the pre-packaged live sand, that is not a tragedy for the tank. The sand is good and has bacteria, you just need the critters. Normally they will come off of live rock, if it is in good shape and good quantity. It doesn't sound like you have much rock for such a big tank. I think the best advice I can give is to search the forum for answers and post your questions before you do something. I goofed in making my original sandbed by using mostly crushed coral. If I had waited and read more closely, I could have avoided a costly mistake. One thing to check into for your tank is whether the wrasse you have is likely to eat your sand dwelling creatures. It is possible to buy kits containing the pods and stuff you want to grow in your sand bed, but they could become an expensive meal for some types of fish. Keep reading and go slow so you avoid any more mistakes. Good luck.
fshhub
Active Member
live sand is only wet sand with bacteria, now some brands do have some critters in, it, but when you buy prepackaged, chances are you are getting few if any critters, it is not an actual lie, no wif you have lr, then it will also populate the sand with critters, and if adding sand to an established tank, what you bought is what i would prefer to use bc it will not cloud near as bad
and to help with your original quaetion, i second the turkey baster, it does a great job, and is readily available
and to help with your original quaetion, i second the turkey baster, it does a great job, and is readily available
tiffbritty
Member
just want to say thanks for all the help from all you. i will use my wifes turky baster when she is sleeping . 
tiffbritty
Member
wrassecal still cloudy but not bad just got done cleaning filters changing carbon, cleaned both my skimmers and power,head it should look much better in the morning.
ed r
Member
I hope and assume that since you were adding the "live bacteria" type sand, you did not rinse it. If this sand was good quality, it would contain a lot of fine sediment. That is nice, but it does extend the length of time it takes for the tank to completely clear. When I changed out my bed, I added 160 lbs of sugar-sized Aragamax without doing any rinsing. The amount of milkiness was astonishing. I did not use a mechanical filter or a skimmer, so mine was probably a worst case condition. However, it took a full six days for the water to clear. Be patient. With your mechanical filter removing those particles, it should not take as long. Good luck.
tiffbritty
Member
no i did not rinse the live sand still cloudy but getting better . my feather dusters are back out for now too. like those feather dusters.
wrassecal
Active Member
I don't have the wet/dry but I do have emperor 400 and 280 on mine. Once my tank cleared up all the way I changed out my filter pads and added new carbon ones to help polish up the water. I think I already mentioned this but be prepared for it looking like baby powder over everything next and then a possible mini cycle and diatom bloom. I got all that but now what 3 and 1/2 weeks later all is great and I'm seeing the sand bed getting more and more worms and critters coming from the lr. I used the same live sand as you. One other thing I did was go to my lfs and have them get me some reef rubble out of the bottom of their curing tank so I could get some pods etc going faster....cost me $1.50 for 3 lbs