Sand constantly in water column...

[Anemone0524]

I think I made a mistake by using fine Oolite Sand in my tank....

It's pretty much always in the water column. I've had to downgrade powerheads to minimize the kicking up of sand, and now am just running 1 k4 and 1 k3 in the 90.

Further exacerbating the problem is a diamond goby that is usually sifting sand and most of it gets thrown up into the water.



Anyone have similar experience with fine Oolite Sand? Any good fixes for this? I really want a 'clean and clear' tank look, but it looks as if my sand decision isn't going to allow that.


I may have to siphon all the sand out, and replace it with a much thicker grade of sand.

[username in use]

How long has it been set up, and did you rinse it before putting it in the tank. i use the fine sand as well, and it took a couple fo weeks for all the really fine dust to get sifted out and filtered away. My pistol goby are always stirring it, and i have a lot of dwarf ceriths that work the sand bed all the time. Do you have a filter sock? I say let it get stirred up and mechanically filter out what doesnt settle, and soon youll have a sand bed that is just the heavy stuff that wants to stay down. You could also put your power heads lower in hte tank and point them up, instead of at the top of the tank pointing down.

[Anemone0524]

I did buy filter socks, but have lapsed using them due to the increase in maintenance. I will use them.

Tank has been set up for 3 months, cycle ended 1.5 months ago. I didn't rinse at all, but I don't think that's why sand is still in the water column after 3 months.

My power heads are level with the ground now, not pointing up or down. Any further up and i'd feel like not enough flow is reaching the lower portions of the tank.

How detrimental is it to remove sand through siphoning, and replace in one weekend. I assume I can expect to see an ammonia spike with all that beneficial bacteria getting sucked out?

[username in use]

I depends on how deep the sand bed is. if it is more than a couple of inches deep, I wouldnt take out more than a couple fo pounds at a time in very thin layers. Also, if ti is deep, and it wasnt rinsed, than it could still be the dust and whatnot getting stirred up, maybe not though. I would just run a sock for a few days and see where that gets you.

[Anemone0524]

Anyone else have similar experiences with fine Oolite sand? Any solutions?