Help with a cloudy new 72g reef tank!

[rfny75]

Hi, I'm setting up a 72g reef tank, just filled in the R/O water then put in the sand, didn't want to put the live sand 1st then kill it slowly with the R/O fresh cold water, so I ended up emptying 2x40 gal sand bags into the water after the tank was full.

My tank now looks like as if I filled it with 72g of milk instead of R/O water and there's froth on the water surface and it's not clearing up. I used the little packets that came with the live sand and they didn't help. It's been more than 24 hours and I don't see any improvement.
I added chemi pure carbon to the refuguim tonight, not sure if this would help? Also, I took out the sponge from the refugium to rinse, since it had a lot of white stuff from the sand, but when I lifted the sponge from the refugim, the dirt went in to the tank again, how do you avoid this from happening? also, when the tank clears up and I start putting in my live rock and move the sand around, wouldn't the water get milky again??? should I connect the skimmer now? and when should I add the mineral mud to the refugium?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Ed

 

[Timbo]

Rinsing the sand before adding it helps. Putting the sand in first and covering it with a plastic bag and filling works good. Now that the water is milky you will have to wait for it to settle. The skimmer doesn't need to be on since there is no live rock, sand, or any livestock in the tank. When you add the rock it will stir up the sand, so try not to move it around much. Why didn't you add salt to the water before putting in the tanK?

 

[rfny75]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't add the salt to the water before putting it to the tank since I was using R/O water, and it took about 3 days to fill the tank and the refugium with water, it would have been such a pain to fill more than 72g using a 5g bucket at a time.
When should I add the mineral mud?

 

[roncgizmo]

I always add the sand then water...I tried what you just did one time and it took like 1 or 2 days to clear up...(and I rinsed the sand) Don't know about the mud, never used it.

 

[Mak]

Do you rinsed the sand with RO water or tap water?

 

[Timbo]

never used mineral mud before, can't answer that one.

 

[reefman]

give it 2 more days. turn off all pumps. only time will clear.

 

[ming]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't add the salt to the water before putting it to the tank since I was using R/O water, and it took about 3 days to fill the tank and the refugium with water, it would have been such a pain to fill more than 72g using a 5g bucket at a time.
When should I add the mineral mud?

It sounds like you had the RO going straight into the tank. The RO comes out slow enough that it shouldn't have caused the sandstorm, therefore I'm guessing you added sand afterwards. So why not mix the salt in before adding sand?
But whats done is done.
Just have to wait it out unless you have a diatom filter handy

 

[yeahcheetah]

I would stir the whole thing up, let the large particles go down, then dump out all water and start over. Maybe take out as much sand as possible and rinse again. It take only 3 days to fill up the tank, but it will probably cost you 3+ months to battle with those fine particles that will stir up whenever you move the rocks, and finally cover your sand bed, rocks, corals, etc., giving them a grey looking, and build up in fish lungs...sorry, I mean gills.

 

[cbrsorlo]

next time put a garbage bag above the sand and then add the water on top

 

[dennis]

Did you try using your hand or a magnet algea cleaner on the glass to see if micro sand particles are on the glass creating that cloudy look?

 

[rfny75]

Yes, I did ... it's all in the water. It's clearing up a bit now, however once the sand is stirred up a bit it gets all milky again.

 

[ellebelle]

Diatom filter will clear it up quick. Otherwise ... patience.

 

[Eznet2u]

I just started a new tank also...I had the same thing happen.
I increased the flow in the tank, and set the skimmer to very wet. It cleared up in less than 12 hrs.
Just keep an eye on the skimmer, mine filled a 5 gallon bucket in about 8hrs.
Over the next few days, I had to blow the dust off the rocks and overflows, but the skimmer takes it right out.

 

[rfny75]

You're right! I didn't think of using a diatom filter, I might consider buying one to get rid of all the dust!

 

[reef93]

if you have spare power filter, run it with cartridge for a day or two will clear up the water.

 

[rfny75]

I got the Diatom XL filter today and it's working like magic, will stir up all the " milk " and get rid of it before adding the live rock. Any recommendations on what type of live rock I should get?

 

[EmilyT]

Try mooching off of others and get them to bring it to the swap. i know alot of people are breaking down their tanks. That way you wont get alot of die-off and you tank will cycle faster if at all because of the coralline build up.