The Price Of Play Sand

[Shaun]

I used playsand in my tank and it didnt even make the water cloudy at all. All i did to wash it was put some of the sand in a bucket then added water (enough to cover the sand), then i stirred it around and waited for all the sand to settle, tipped out the water then did it once more and repeated the process for the amount of sand i needed for my tank.

You may be better off waiting until you filled the tank up as it may not be cloudy and therefore you wont need any chemicals to clear it.

Hope this helps a little

Shaun

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Thanks

 

[hjkaga]

how common is it for the sand to clog the filter??? I am considering using sand too but dont want to have to replace my filter cause of it....i dont have money to throw away ya know.

 

[InaneCathode]

Other things to get: One small bottle of Tetra Aqua Wter Clarifier: 3 to 4 something

I personally wouldn't bother with that, adding chemicals wont actually make the silt that makes the water cloudy magically dissapear, and the silt does settle down completely within a few days. Also, as said before water cloudy from silt doesn't harm fish at all .
Though i am interested to know how it works, does anyone know? Maybe it says on the back of the bottle, but the internet descriptions are very vague.

Water clarifier is actually a flocculant, meaning it takes small bits and sitcks them together to make large bits. Most of the 'clarifying' action is the larger bits sinking to the bottom. Really it doesnt remove anything, it just makes it sink to the bottom (or a portion stick to the filter).

 

[three-fingers]

Ah right, thanks . Seems pointless then unless you are extremely impatient .

 

[MegTheFish]

Other things to get: One small bottle of Tetra Aqua Wter Clarifier: 3 to 4 something

I personally wouldn't bother with that, adding chemicals wont actually make the silt that makes the water cloudy magically dissapear, and the silt does settle down completely within a few days. Also, as said before water cloudy from silt doesn't harm fish at all .
Though i am interested to know how it works, does anyone know? Maybe it says on the back of the bottle, but the internet descriptions are very vague.

I've used it before on my 55 when I added sand, I guess I didn't wash the sand good enough or something becasue god that tank was cloudy. Wasn't clearing up on its own. So added a product similar to that, worked great! All the silt and free floating stuff clumps to the media in the filter and you just take the media out, rinse it, plop in back in filter, and voila! Clear tank! It didn't make the stuff sink to the bottom though, don't know where you got that from InAneCathode.

 

[erk628]

Finally I am done! And it looks pretty darn good. And it really didn't cloud up that much at all. I'm not going to add any water clarifier and it should be totally clear by morning. Just make sure to rinse it well and you'll be find, if you decide its to cloudy you could always go buy some water clarifier, but I wouldn't waste your money because if you get the white at home Depot you shouldn't need it. Now when you take you fish out to do this change here is how I did it. First turn everything off filter heater etc. Grab your gravel vac siphon the water from tht tank to your spare one, until the spare one is full. take everything out of the tank your changing for example plants decorations etc. Put your heater and filters in the spare tank, turn on your filters and your heater. Lastly net your fish put them in the spare tank. Then take the rest of the water out of the tank your changing take the gravel out. The start rinsing sand and putting it in the tank until you get the depth you want, I have about two inchs. Then grab a plate and start filling it up try and get the same temp water as you tank usualy is. Wait before you add water go ahead and put plants and decorations in then fill with water. After filled put you heater and filters back in turn them on put in you declorifier and wait until you temp is right. Then put your fish back in and your done. Also one 50 pound bag will be plenty for you tank, you will have some left over. Let us know how it goes. One last not this sand you will notice will create air pockets you will be able to see in the front of the tank. Just stiir it up and they will go away. Also make sure to stir the sand once in awhile after its set up to get rid of pockets and will create a gas that can kill your fish.

 

[InaneCathode]

Other things to get: One small bottle of Tetra Aqua Wter Clarifier: 3 to 4 something

I personally wouldn't bother with that, adding chemicals wont actually make the silt that makes the water cloudy magically dissapear, and the silt does settle down completely within a few days. Also, as said before water cloudy from silt doesn't harm fish at all .
Though i am interested to know how it works, does anyone know? Maybe it says on the back of the bottle, but the internet descriptions are very vague.

I've used it before on my 55 when I added sand, I guess I didn't wash the sand good enough or something becasue god that tank was cloudy. Wasn't clearing up on its own. So added a product similar to that, worked great! All the silt and free floating stuff clumps to the media in the filter and you just take the media out, rinse it, plop in back in filter, and voila! Clear tank! It didn't make the stuff sink to the bottom though, don't know where you got that from InAneCathode.

I got it from waste water treatment theory, and my own messed up little brain. Heres how:
The reason the water is cloudy is because there is suspended particulates, right? Well, sand is heavier than water, unless its tiny tiny bits, thats why most the sand stays at the bottom. If you make the sand particles bigger, they'll cease to be suspended and therefore sink to the bottom due to gravity. This must be how it clears the water, because as far as i know silica isn't a polar molecule, and short of literally spraying an adhesive substance over your sand i dont see how water clarifier 'stuff' could stick to just particulates floating around and not /everything/. (read, leaving crap stuck to everything in your tank). I am actually interested if anyone has observed what happens after they add the clarifying agent. Not just "well it was cloudy then in a few days it wasnt" i mean observing what happens to the suspended particles...

Then again, i dont have any real proof, its just what makes sense to me

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Thanks everybody!