Sand as Substrate

[HappyintheNT]

Not new to the hobby but it has been MANY years between tanks.
I am in the process of setting up a small 65lt tank and have used sand as substrate for the first time. I rinsed the sand before adding to the tank but the water is still quite cloudy (2 days). There are no fish or plants as yet as I want to set it up very slowly to allow for the best outcomes.
My question is how long can it take for the water to clear?
I am using the Aqua One 280 filter and rinsing the filter morning and night for the moment. The 280 does not come with a separate wool component, it is part of the carbon cartridge. Can I add some wool to the filter in the short term to help clear the water?

Thanks

 

[Seisage]

It shouldn't take more than a day or so for even fine dust to settle, especially since you rinsed the sand beforehand. I'm wondering if you're maybe getting some cloudy water from a bacterial bloom as well, which is extremely common in newly set-up tanks. A picture of the tank might help

 

[Colin_T]

Try wiping the glass down and changing the water.

 

[Uberhoust]

I have had tanks go cloudy for up to 10 days give or take after setting up with a new sand substrate. It does settle eventually. Most filters you can add what is known as a polishing filter to them to remove real fine particles.

If you have lighting on, I find you get an algae bloom. The algae seem to attach to the finest particles which you can then filter out using a polishing filter.

Sand quality is highly variable depending on the source, if you are using play sand or other sand not specific to aquarium use then it is a good idea to thoroughly rinse it. In particularly bad sand I have ended up rinsing away 20 percent of the volume of the original sand.

When you rinse your sand it is best to do it outside, the material you rinse away can accumulate in the traps and you can have problems in the future.

 

[Ram419]

Seachem Clarity or API Accu Clear is supposed to help with this as well. I've never used either before but heard that it works along with a good filter.