do i HAVE to empty the tank?

[Meggy]

i washed the sand before i put it in my new 55 gallon setup, but even though the water seemed pretty clear to me, it is not so clear in the tank. i don't think this looks like a bacteria bloom or anything to do with cycling, i think it is residue, and i really don't want to drain and refill the tank.
it would be a problem as far as work involved (second floor apartment above landlord) and as far as interrupting the cycle. at first i put some sandblasting sand in, which was just too fine, so i scooped as much out as possible (most of it, as well as most of that water) and put 50 lbs of pool filter sand in, which was clean from the beginning, as i saw upon rinsing it.


i can see everything in the tank just fine, it's not too bad, but i can't see from one end to the other 'longways.' i was thinking it'd settle or the filter might take care of it.


any ideas? for the record, i haven't put any fish in yet. this is day three and i probably will put a small pleco or two in this afternoon. i did add some 'unhappy' mondo grass from another tank - i thought it might help make some ammonia.


levels as of day 2: everything at 0, ph at 8.1 (the tank will be for afircan cichlids)

 

[Bloo]

If you already have another tank - have you cloned it ?
How long has the sand been in the new tank with the filter running. If the filter is strong enough, it should really clear any residue in the water in a few hours - or at most generally overnight.

 

[Meggy]

If you already have another tank - have you cloned it ?
How long has the sand been in the new tank with the filter running. If the filter is strong enough, it should really clear any residue in the water in a few hours - or at most generally overnight.

[snapback]878713[/snapback]​

not cloned, not similar at all really. the older tank has gravel and plants and mollies. the mondo grass did come from it, though. i did not think that a grass that was starting to die was good for that tank, and hope it will be beneficial for the cycle in the new tank.

sand in new tank with running filter: 3 days almost. maybe it iS bacteria, i have no idea. i added Cycle, but i hear that's crap. and the levels are basically doing nothing. i'm pretty confused about the cloudiness.

 

[rdd1952]

Unless you have cloned it with media from your other tank as bloozoo2 mentioned, I wouldn't put any fish in yet. First off, you aren't cycled and second the cloudy/sandy water may cause problems for the. On top of that, plecos eat algae which you shouldn't have yet. Even if you feed them algae wafers, they are very messy so they will create more ammonia that most fish, leaving you with ammonia and nitrite problems.

As for getting rid of the cloudy water, you could do a partial water change, 25 to 50 percent. That would clear it up quite a bit. It won't have any effect on the cycling because you aren't cycling now anyway unless you are adding pure ammonia. Plants won't create ammonia, actually if anything they will pull ammonia from the water. SInce you said "unhappy", you may have meant it was dead and decaying. That may create a very slight amount of ammonia but not enough to matter.

 

[Bloo]

uhm nope - by cloned I mean: did you add some of the filter media (sponge or ceramic) from the old and existing filter, to the new filter ? If you do that, you will start of the cycle on your new tank much quicker.

Do you know about fishless cycling?

The cloudiness should be going down. But perhaps you need to just do a 50% water change.

 

[rdd1952]

not cloned, not similar at all really. the older tank has gravel and plants and mollies. the mondo grass did come from it, though. i did not think that a grass that was starting to die was good for that tank, and hope it will be beneficial for the cycle in the new tank.

sand in new tank with running filter: 3 days almost. maybe it iS bacteria, i have no idea. i added Cycle, but i hear that's crap. and the levels are basically doing nothing. i'm pretty confused about the cloudiness.

[snapback]878731[/snapback]​

By cloning the tank, we mean adding filter media or other items that contain good bacteria from your existing tank into the new tank. That greatly speeds the cycling process. A tank won't simply cycle by itself. You must add a source of ammonia to feed the bacteria and start them to multiplying. As you said, Cycle is pretty much useless. Your existing tank is the best source of starter bacteria for the new tank.