Question about new tank

[PatrickM98]

Hi everyone,

I set up a new tank last night and am having some problems with cloudy water that I'v never had before. After the water cleared from the salt mixing, I added a 20lb. bag of the Carib-Sea bio-active sand, followed by 10 lbs. of live sand from the LFS. The water became very cloudy, so I just decided to run the protein skimmer and go to bed in the hopes it would clear up. 18 hours later the water is still cloudy (although not as bad as it was, you can almost see from one end of the 36" tank to the other). The problem appears to be suspended particles that do not settle onto the sand bed even when all circulation is shut off.

My question is will this clear up on its own or should I go out and buy a mechanical filter to clear it up? My main question is whether or not it would be ok to go ahead and cure live rock in the tank, or if it would be better to clear the water first? Thanks everyone.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Patrick. If you're going after a deep, fine, live sand bed, then I think a majority here would not advise you to clean the silt from the water column with mechanical filter pads. If this is the case, I'd say give it more time, add a little bit of rock as structure to start catching silt as it passes...
Chris

 

[pghflame]

I've just switched from crushed coral to sand. (I've used the southdown sand though). Anyway, without getting into a debate about Southdown, when I did some research on the board, everyone seems to be saying that you just gotta wait for the bacteria to take effect. Essentially, the bacteria will cling to the small silt/sand particles and cause them to settle. I found this out by doing a search for "southdown", as it seems that many were having the same problem as you. Search for either that or "live sand bed", i'm sure something will come up you may find useful. As for mine...3 days and still cloudy but slightly improving. I've been reefing for a few years now, so I am just being patient (hallmard for successful reefing) and waiting for the bacteria colony to establish itself...we'll see what happens and if all of those people were right!

 

[danmhippo]

3 days and it's still cloudy??? That's normal. Usually it will take anywhere from 4 to 15 days for the silt particles to be coated and become heavy enough to settle. However, if you are seeing dry foams and non-silt debris on top of surface, promptly remove those by using a fine mesh net.