Sand substrate and cycling

[Malt_Vinegar]

Last night i set up my new twenty UK gallon tank with sand i bought from my lfs. I rinsed the sand for ages, and it was running through almost clear. However, when i introduced it to the tank and added water it has become very cloudy. Will this clear, or should i add carbon to the filter to get rid of it? Also, when i set up the tank i have used a bacterial starter, treated all the water as i normally wood, then i cut off a piece of my established filter media and put it with the new filter media. How long should it take to cycle, should i add anything, i have a couple of fish i could use to speed up the process. Oh and any other general comments on the upkeep of a sand tank would be good, as its my first tank of this kind. Thanks guys!

 

[DrOizo]

Well I added Silver sand to a 5 gal yesterday and it was cloudy for a couple of seconds but then went crystal clear! Remember to stirr the gravel periodically so as to avoid anaerobic clumps. The cloudiness is the minature sand particles and it will clear (Carbon will not get rid of the sand particles) just let them settle and you'll see it'll look great

 

[DrOizo]

Ok here is a bad pic of mine after a couple of hours

 

[Lateral Line]

Doesn't matter how much you wash sand, and how clear you tell yourself the water is in the bucket, a fact of life is when you put it in the tank it will turn the water into milk. It settles out quite quickly.

 

[Erika_4404]

i would give it 3 weeks to cycle properly thats if youo really want succsess

 

[jams.alaskan]

Hi MV - I'm not clear on this. Are you cycling with fish or without?

ALASKA

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

currently fishless

I would not mind whacking somat in there to help cycle it, i have some danios i could transfer over, or some neons, or a betta. Is that a good idea?


Its still cloudy, and its nearly 24 hours after i put the stuff in the tank....

 

[DrOizo]

Don't add anything if the tank is still cloudy. For them it would be like us trying to breathe in a sand storm! Yuo must have a very fine grain sand. Leave it and see what happens. If it doesn't clear soon I would do a water change.

 

[drobbins27]

Just give it patience, its just the sand settling it may take a long time. But yes, in a day, if its not settled try a water change...Try asking Great Lakes or CFC they are really smart and have answer for everything

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I did a water change, HUGE differance!!

I have 2 danios and a Betta male in there atm, i have seeded the filter, so fingers crossed all will be ok

 

[rollntider]

could have been the bacteria blooming since you used filtermedia from another tank.

 

[Interfire]

It could just be me, but I didn't think your tank was bad at all.

Mine was way worse than that (black sand) and it cleared up just fine in a couple of days.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

here it is now


Soon to be an african chiclid tank!!

 

[DrOizo]

Thats my tank and not Malt's
Just to clear it up

*Edit I posted for the above above post and not yor one malt he.*