Murkey Water

[nate9]

I just set up my new 55 gallon tank on sunday and decided to put sand in it instead of gravel. i reserched the topic and learned i needed to wash the sand (which was not some cheapo sand, i dont even want to say how much that cost) before i put it in the tank. i looked up instuctions on this forum and followed them, then i put the 55lbs of sand in to the tank and added water. Now, 3 days later the water is still murkey. i have the filter and heater set up. also could i put a couple of fish in it to cycle it?

ANyone know what is causing the murkiness, how to stop or prevent it, or when it will go away?

P.S.-i was recently talking to a friend who told me i could cycle the tank simply through crushong up food flakes and adding very small portions of the food once a day. then just test until amonya is gone, anyone ever heard of this or any comments on it?

Thnaks for any help,
Nate

 

[orientmatt]

3 days probably isn't enough time for the tank to fully settle down. However much you wash the sand theres still gonna be some crud in there that you cant get rid of. Give it a couple more days and it'll all settle down as the filter kicks in a bit more. If not then the output from the filter is probably causing to much of a current thats not letting the substrate settle down.

 

[fishing4exotics]

Hi Nate, it is going to take a while for the murkiness to go away. You can use a diatom filter if you want to "polish" your water crystal clear. The suspended particles will eventually settle to the bottom. If not you have a bacteria bloom. Check the pinned topics for bacteria bloom.

Crushed flakes, a piece of frozen shrimp, pure ammonia, etc... Anything that will add ammonia to your tank will help cultivate the bacteria that are needed to cycle your tank. Again, please check this site on fishless cycle.