Switching To Sand From Gravel

[metulburr]

I am in the process of switching to sand from gravel. 
 
1) I moved the fish into the temp tank as well as one of the filters and heater
 
2) i left one filter in the sand tank
 
3) poured about 2 inches of sand across the tank, and filled it with fresh water
 
3) the water is dark and chocolate milk color. Is this normal?
 
4) The sand is Sakrete Natural play sand. (fine). 
 
Questions:
1) How long does it take for a 30 gallon tank to settle sand?
 
2) I have two filters each 30-60 gallon. Do i want the second filter in the temp tank to keep bacteria alive, or do i put it in the sand tank to clear the sand up? I dont want to use it in the sand tank if the sand is going to kill the bacteria. But it is probably too late.  After about 20 minutes of running it, i checked the filter and it is loaded with sand. Should i rub this off or just leave it? Will this layer of sand on the media kill the bacteria?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It is always best to rinse the sand before putting it into the tank.  Play sand is notoriously full of fine sand that won't really settle.  
 
 
Place a piece of floss over the filter intake so the sand doesn't destroy the impeller.  

 

[metulburr]

 
 
Play sand is notoriously full of fine sand that won't really settle.  

So it will NEVER settle?
 

 
 
Place a piece of floss over the filter intake so the sand doesn't destroy the impeller.  

I did that, but there is already sand through the entire filtration system. Should i go rinse out the sand or leave it? 
 
EDIT:
Should i take the filter out to help let it settle? It would seem plausible that moving the water around would only make this process longer? Is this correct or not?

 

[Byron]

I agree, you should rinse all sand before putting it in the aquarium.  I use play sand myself, in all seven tanks, and some bags were extremely dirty.  I rinse the sand five or six times; it is still not clear water in the pail, but this can work if you're careful in filling the tank with water.  It will then settle within a few days.
 
Once you have the sand in the tank, do any rearranging (placing wood, rock, decor, etc) before adding the water.  When you are ready to fill, use a hose/python and aim it into a large bowl sitting on the sand.  If you plant plants, do this with only a few inches of water, then drain that water out and fill with the bowl.
 
The sand dirt will likely settle in time, though with the water movement I'm not sure how long this might take.  And there s the real risk of damaging the filter(s).
 
Byron.

 

[metulburr]

I have already put the water in with the sand 100%. Just poured buckets in and let it cloud up. I also did NOT wash it. I didnt know i was suppose to. Do i have to take the water out and wash it or is it possible to let it settle without washing it?

 

[Byron]

I have already put the water in with the sand 100%. Just poured buckets in and let it cloud up. I also did NOT wash it. I didnt know i was suppose to. Do i have to take the water out and wash it or is it possible to let it settle without washing it?

 
As I said previously, I've no idea how long this might take.  If I were you, since the fish are still in the temporary tank and presumably safe there, I would drain the tank and remove and rinse the sand, then follow my previous setup.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I have already put the water in with the sand 100%. Just poured buckets in and let it cloud up. I also did NOT wash it. I didnt know i was suppose to. Do i have to take the water out and wash it or is it possible to let it settle without washing it?

 
If you didn't wash it at all then you will have a very long wait and every time you move any sand around it will cloud up again.

 

[metulburr]

OK so what i did was stick one hose in and suction the water out. It is going into the toilet. At the same speed i hooked another hose up to the faucet and put it into the sand tank. And turned off the filter. 
 
I can see a massive cloud of dirt come up when i agitate the water. I am assuming i am done when there is no cloud of water? Should i attempt to agitate the water to help clean it? If i leave it alone i can see it get clearer. Then when i agitate the sand to try to clean it it clouds up again. Or am i just sucking the sand out by agitating it? Should it be clear when i agitate it? I have had it running for about 20 minutes and it went from chocolate milk color to milky creek water color. Then of course i plan on dechlorinating it when its clear. 
 
What do you think of this process?

 

[Byron]

I would wonder if that process might remove a lot of sand along with the dirt.  I have only ever used the bucket method.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That's not a bad process.  The lighter sand is stuff you don't want in the tank, it will always be easily agitated and cloud up.  The heavier stuff will stay settled.  Keep the removal hose near the top and you won't lose much in the way of the heavy stuff you really want.

 

[metulburr]

Yeah i have the removal hose about a couple inches from the top. When agitate the sand, about 90% of it drops like a rock, the rest of it lifts up like a dust cloud in the wind. Every so often i stir it for a good 5 minutes and it will turn pitch brown (the entire water). 
 
So my biggest question is....Should i agitate it or let it sit and get clear? It seems like every time i agitate it, i can make it get chocolate milky again. Is this just mean it is still dirty or that i am just agitating the hell out of it and pushing so much sand into the upper levels of water? 
 
Based on your response it seems like if it goes up then its the lighter stuff that needs to come up. But at what point do you say enough is enough? 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah i have the removal hose about a couple inches from the top. When agitate the sand, about 90% of it drops like a rock, the rest of it lifts up like a dust cloud in the wind. 
 
So my biggest question is....Should i agitate it or let it sit and get clear? It seems like every time i agitate it, i can make it get chocolate milky again. Is this just mean it is still dirty or that i am just agitating the hell out of it and pushing so much sand into the upper levels of water? 
 
Based on your response it seems like if it goes up then its the lighter stuff that needs to come up. But at what point do you say enough is enough?

 
It will never be crystal clear during this process, but the question is how much does it 'cloud up' with a tiny disturbance?  Another question is what fish are you keeping?  Fish that sift through the sand a little like cories won't cause a great deal of disturbance.  But some other fish (like my Bristlenose Pleco) would literally dig holes in the sand whenever and wherever he wished and could cause a great dust cloud if I hadn't cleaned the sand well.  
 
I'd suggest removing enough to your satisfaction, and then siphon down to about an inch or so above the sand.  Then refill as Byron suggests.  If it doesn't cloud up doing that, then you've likely done it enough.  If it continues to cloud up, then you didn't do it enough.
 
 
Personally, for right now, I'd be stirring it ALL up for a bit... digging all the way to the bottom to ensure that the lightest stuff is removed.  Some play sand is extremely 'dirty' and requires extra rinsing.  It really comes down to what you are comfortable with.
 
 
Regarding your filter... pull that out and rinse it out as best you can.
 
Let the tank settle for at least 12-24 hours after you are done rinsing before turning the filter back on.  If the filter kicks up more cloudiness, then you haven't cleaned it enough.  (I guess what I am saying is that you won't know when enough is enough per se, but you will know when it hasn't been enough.)

 

[metulburr]

 
 
the question is how much does it 'cloud up' with a tiny disturbance? 

 
I have a stick that i have been using to "stir" it.  Id i poke the stick down all the way and move it quickly through the sand. It will kick up sand. However that sand drops pretty quickly. However there is a small amount of dust that does not drop and stay up. The dust cloud settle within a few seconds. However if i stir and stir and stir, i can make the mirky water turn to chocolate milk appearance. 
 
I dont think any fish will disturb the sand except for 4 african dwarf frogs, and some kuhli loaches. 
 
It seems clean to me. It just feels like i am kicking up sand into the water every time i stir it up. I can tell i lost a couple pounds of sand. But that is OK because i put too much in, in the first place and was going to remove some. 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

 
 
the question is how much does it 'cloud up' with a tiny disturbance? 

 
I have a stick that i have been using to "stir" it.  Id i poke the stick down all the way and move it quickly through the sand. It will kick up sand. However that sand drops pretty quickly. However there is a small amount of dust that does not drop and stay up. The dust cloud settle within a few seconds. However if i stir and stir and stir, i can make the mirky water turn to chocolate milk appearance. 
 
I dont think any fish will disturb the sand except for 4 african dwarf frogs, and some kuhli loaches. 
 
It seems clean to me. It just feels like i am kicking up sand into the water every time i stir it up. I can tell i lost a couple pounds of sand. But that is OK because i put too much in, in the first place and was going to remove some. 
 

 
I know what you are saying... the play sand is like a mixture of varying sized particles from the size of granulated sugar down to powdered sugar.  Most of what you got rid of was the powdery stuff... but there's quite a lot of that stuff in there believe it or not.  Some bags way more than others.  That stuff is better off not in your tank, as it will just end up breaking your filter impeller.  
 
If you are satisfied, I'd drain it down low then refill, let it sit and after about 12-24 hours, put the filter on and move the fish back after another hour or so to see how much the filter kicks up the sand.

 

[metulburr]

It seems letting the sand sit; and having a hose to the toilet to drain and hose from the faucet to fill....makes the water almost clear in about 30-60 minutes. I let it sit to get clear, then i put all my plants and other stuff back into the tank. I stirred it up a little but not too much. I turned the filter back on. I figured i would leave it for at least over night to sit. The filter does not kick up more sand at all. the tank is about 18 inches tall, There is not much power from the water to do much at the bottom. But i also have dual filters, so i guess i will see tomorrow when i put the second filter back in and see if both would kick any sand up. I figured i would let the hose push and pull water in and out for a couple more hours without moving and kicking sand around and see if it clears it up more before adding dechlorinator in and letting it fully sit . 
 
Thanks everyone who responded. It really helped to get your opinions and pointers. 
 
 
EDIT:
30 minutes later...
 
I am pretty happy with it. I forgot to put some plants in. So i added them, moved the sand around the base. It kicked up and went straight back down. Within a few second the dust cloud dropped and there is no sign that i touched it at all. I feel like i can clean it and move the sand around a little here and there without making a death dust cloud now. The water at this point is pure clear. As if it didnt have sand but rocks. I know if i stir the sand that it will make a huge cloud. But i feel like i got the majority, and moving things around it is also clear, so i guess i will just let it sit overnight to make sure before i put the fish in. I really like this approach to cleaning the sand as watching people on youtube using buckets seem to take forever to clear their water and looks to be much more hassle than using hoses into the tank.