Pls Please Pls Please Help!

[Meggie :)]

So I went to the pet store today to change my ten gallon to a planted tank...but the problem was I had all sand and plants can't live in just sand....so I bought fluval gravel stuff (there's a pic of it) and some plants...I took all my fish out (with water left in the tank) and I started putting in the separaters to separate the sand and fluval stuff then i added the fluval stuff...well it was really rinsed out and I used the method where you fill a water bottle up with the fluval, let it fill up with water then dump out the fluval so the dirty water is left in the water bottle and you don't have to put it in the tank...

So now im stuck with this super cloudy tank with fish and shrimp sitting in tupperwares and I have no idea what to do...and no i don't have an extra tank i can put them in. should i turn the filters on off or should I keep them off?

Pls pls help asap!
Megan

 

[blesser13]

So I went to the pet store today to change my ten gallon to a planted tank...but the problem was I had all sand and plants can't live in just sand....so I bought fluval gravel stuff (there's a pic of it) and some plants...I took all my fish out (with water left in the tank) and I started putting in the separaters to separate the sand and fluval stuff then i added the fluval stuff...well it was really rinsed out and I used the method where you fill a water bottle up with the fluval, let it fill up with water then dump out the fluval so the dirty water is left in the water bottle and you don't have to put it in the tank...

So now im stuck with this super cloudy tank with fish and shrimp sitting in tupperwares and I have no idea what to do...and no i don't have an extra tank i can put them in. should i turn the filters on off or should I keep them off?

Pls pls help asap!
Megan

The cloudy water won't kill your fishes, start your pump for 1 hour then add your fishes, nxt day clean your pump using the water from your tank

 

[Meggie :)]

okay thank you! so i let my pumps run and put in my plants but since it's midnight I'm just floating them for now...i will actually plant them tomorrow...all the fish and shrimp are back in (along with the lovely new snails) and they seem to love all the plants even though they aren't even planted yet haha Will the big water change affect them much or should they be fine?

P.s. Lord I pray that you strike dead all the new snails that are now in my tank. Amen.

 

[ian]

just be aware Meggie, that you shouldn't really rinse that substrate. Also it does leach ammonia, so you're going to have to do regular water changes for a week or so. Running a mature filter will use most of the ammonia up.

 

[Meggie :)]

did i just mess everything up by rinsing it? and will the plants be okay floating for the night?

 

[ian]

no, it'll just take an little longer to settle. It's really good stuff for plants though The plants will be fine floating about for a bit.

 

[KittyKat]

but the problem was I had all sand and plants can't live in just sand

Yes, they can

well it was really rinsed out and I used the method where you fill a water bottle up with the fluval, let it fill up with water then dump out the fluval so the dirty water is left in the water bottle and you don't have to put it in the tank...

Stirring substrate under running water in a bucket is a lot more effective, but ianho is probably right that this particular substrate doesn't need washing.

So now im stuck with this super cloudy tank with fish and shrimp sitting in tupperwares and I have no idea what to do...and no i don't have an extra tank i can put them in. should i turn the filters on off or should I keep them off?

As above, just start running the filter with some extra filter floss at the start of it and replace the filter floss often.

 

[Meggie :)]

thanks guys! I woke up this morning and everything was crystal clear again, all the fish and shrimp are okay! (now i just have to try to find the shrimp in the mess of plants so i don't hurt them when I plant!) And I was told that I couldn't get rooted plants because they wouldn't be able to grow as well in my fine sand? Oh well...now I guess they will just do extra well with this substrate and now I have a wider variety because I have fertilizer

 

[Meggie :)]

can i put a top layer of sand over the fluval substrate to help it blend in more?

 

[colleen0309]

I wouldn't put sand on top of the substrate, it will just sift down through and end up making a mess. Almost all of my tanks are sand substrate and my plants do great. I use root tabs and flourish and they grow great! My one sword has grown up and out of my 46 gallon bowfront(2ft high).