southdown sand blues

[waterwolf]

I listened to everyones advice and put some southdown in my tank. Now its a cloudy mess. I think I have to break down my tank and get all that southdown out of my tank and start all over. Any better ideas? How can I save my livestock cause some of them are dying.

 

[justchillin]

what livestock do you hav in your tank???
when i moved my tank it was cloudy for like 3 days and my lion and my eel were both fine...
i'm sure the sand gets stirred up pretty good in the ocean during a hurrican, but that doesn't kill all the fish...
if you have any "fragile" livestock some that really don't look good and you have a q-tank or another tank you could put them in there untill it settles but it's never bothered my fish...

 

[bang guy]

You didn't put it in your tank dry did you? If not it should settle with no loss of life. If you did I suggest a series of water changes to get Ca, PH, and ALK back in balance.

 

[waterwolf]

My snails look like they are dying, I can't see my eel and I don't want to reach in the tank when I can't see him. I am going to do some serious water changes. And remove all the sand. I asked on another post about mixing aragonite and sand. should I take the sand out and put it in my sump?

 

[waterwolf]

Another question, does southdown affect my ph?

 

[jackdp]

Southdown wouldn't have any major effect on pH. Over time it slowly dissolves and contributes slightly to alkalinity stability. I agree though, I don't think adding sand would cause all this loss you are seeing.

 

[waterwolf]

The snails looked like they were dying but this morning it started to clear up and the snails were moving around again, still too cloudy to see the eel, but it is clearing up slightly. I set the bag in the bottom then opened it. I had a 2-3" layer of Aragonite in the tank already but since there is live rock in the tank and an eel I didn't want to take it out. I just wanted to add the sand to it. Someone told me thats bad to mix sand with aragonite. I don't understand why that would make a difference, since the sand would eventually work its way to the bottom. Should I leave the sand in the tank? Will it keep clouding up everytime it is disturbed? I appreciate everyones help.

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by Waterwolf
Someone told me thats bad to mix sand with aragonite.
Soutdown is aragonite
Should I leave the sand in the tank?
Yes, it will clear right up, when disturbed a little will fly around, after it has settled take a turkey baster and clean it off of your rocks a couple of times, this will cloud a little too but will clear.
Will it keep clouding up everytime it is disturbed?
I appreciate everyones help.
Not as long as you don't have fish that like to pick up the sand and spit it out above the rocks , or have a power head fall into the sand bed.
Thomas

 

[jumpfrog]

Just wait it out. It'll be fine in a few days. Once the sand has a bacteria coating it will settle much faster when stirred.
What are you using for mechanical filtration?

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by jackdp
Southdown wouldn't have any major effect on pH.
Normally this is true. If you add dry aragonite sand (the Southdown) to tank water it WILL!!!!! precipitate Ca, Mg, and CO3 out of solution. this will lower your ALK to the point where there is almost no PH buffering. This is what is affecting the snails and is probably stressing your fish.
I agree that you shouldn't remove the sand now, the damage is done. I suggested water changes not to clear up the water, but to restore your Ca, Mg and ALK levels.

 

[waterwolf]

thanks to all! I am keeping it in my tank and just going to do water changes. Then I will let it settle. I did a water change already and the snails seemed to perk up. It cleared up a little more and I see my eel is still doing well. I think in the long run I will be satisfied with the results. I guess I was overwhelmed with how cloudy it got.