Really Cloudy Water

[Steve H]

Hi,
I added southdown and filled my tank on Friday night and the water is still so cloudy I cannot see the back of the tank. I have seen threads on this before but was wondering if there is something else wrong, its been almost 3 days and it has not gotten any better at all. I did not rinse the sand first, I've read you dont have to, and I put plastic over it before adding water. I have been running carbon and my skimmer (euroreef es-2) the entire time, the skimmer is not producing anything, is this right?

Thanks

 

[dedfish]

It should settle. Try wiping the inside of the glass off...sometimes it looks more cloudy than it is because the glass is just dirty.

 

[NateHanson]

I don't have to rinse the sand, but it definitely shortens the length of the storm if you do.

It will settle eventually, but you can help things along by mixing in some live sand (the dust only really settles down for good when it's all stuck together by the sugary coats of the bacteria), and running some sort of mechanical filter (I ran an aquaclear filter with polyester floss).

I just set up a tank on Thursday, with southdown I rinsed 3 times in a bucket, and the storm was very light, never lost sight of the back of the tank, and it was totally clear in about a day and a half.

Get a few cups of live sand mixed in, get some mechanical filtration, and hang in there. It'll settle down eventually.

Nate

 

[~Flighty~]

If you have a canister filter you can stick some filter fiber then a layer of sand then more fiber in it and it will filter out the tiny sand particles fast. I used rinsed nylon sewing batting for pillows as the fiber, worked great and was cheep, but I never asked anyone if that was ok (I can't see why it wouldn't be.) I don't think carbon will really help right now. I hope you don't have any livestock in there

 

[NateHanson]

I use batting too cindy. I don't know of any problem with it.

 

[Steve H]

Thanks for the replies, I'll add some live sand from my other tank and set up my canister filter, I filled up nylons with cotton balls and tied that to return last night but it does not seem to be working. I have not added any salt yet because I was not sure if I was going to have to drain it and start again, could this be part of the problem?

 

[KAS]

You had better put salt in before you put live sand in or it won't be live very long...

 

[NateHanson]

i think salt might help. What you really need is for the sand to get stuff growing on it, and that won't happen in fresh water (at least not the right stuff).

Nate

 

[~Flighty~]

If you havn't put salt in, I would stirr the top of the sand and siphon out all of the water once to get as much of the tiny stuff out as you can. I don't know how you would add salt without compleetly stirring the sand and get salt down into the sand anyway.

 

[NateHanson]

Yeah, I'm with Cindy, actually. Stir the tank up as vigorously as you can. Wait about 1 minute, and the siphon out all the water (keeping the hose at the top) with a large diameter hose. Fill it with the garden hose, and repeat. Then fill it with RODI and salt, mix in some live sand, and use some sort of filter.

It might take you another day to get it going, but it'll settle the storm quicker.

 

[Steve H]

I can try that. So I was wrong not to rinse the sand first?

 

[NateHanson]

Theres nothing wrong with not rinsing it. Except that it takes a long time to settle, and tends to stir up easily for a few months when fish and critters in the tank disturb the sandbed. It's not a big deal (I didn't rinse on my first tank) but if it's bothering you and you want to do something about it at this point, then the only thing you have to lose is a few gallons of RODI water. Or you can just be patient. It will settle eventually. Either way, putting some salt and live sand in will help things settle quicker.

Nate

 

[Daragon]

If you have a sump, put a filter sock on the drain, that will help clear it up pretty quick.

 

[ScottM]

Thanks for the replies, I'll add some live sand from my other tank and set up my canister filter, I filled up nylons with cotton balls and tied that to return last night but it does not seem to be working. I have not added any salt yet because I was not sure if I was going to have to drain it and start again, could this be part of the problem?

add salt,
your skimmer will remove the cloud in no time.

skimmers don't work in fresh water.

 

[ScottM]

FWIW i have never rinsed SD. and as long as you have a quality skimmer (in salt water)you should be clear by tomorrow.

 

[Steve H]

Thanks for the info, I'll try adding the salt and a filter sock first, if I have to drain it and start again I think my wife will kill me

 

[Steve H]

I added the salt, brought the temp to 80F, and seeded the sand with about 2 cups of live sand, this morning the water was nice and clear. Who would of though that adding salt to a saltwater tank would make a difference. thanks for the help