Sand Issue

[MattCarm]

I have just finished cycling my 125g tank and I have about 200lbs of caribbean aragonite sand. Being the newb that I am, I didn't rinse it when I first placed it in my tank. I was re-aquascaping, and when I moved my rock it kicked up a bunch of really small dust into the water column. It became so cloudy that I could only see about 3 inches into the tank on all sides (I only moved rock on 1/4 of the tank!!!) The sand settled down after about 2 days, but I plan on getting a goby and I don't want to have a constantly cloudy tank.

How can I fix this without taking anything out of the tank? Waterchanges would help, but my god I would have to do it a bunch of times.

Any ideas on how to get this stuff out? Would a 100 micron filter sock take this stuff out of the water? or is it even finer than 100 microns?

If it comes to it, I guess I can just agitate the sand so it all flies up into the water and then just do one giant WC. But I really want to avoid having to cycle the whole darn thing again and wait another 5 weeks!!

grr.

[Sisterlimonpot]

You pretty much nailed it on the head, I wouldn't do any water changes but expect the water to be cloudy for a while once the goby in in the tank. He will kick up the sand but it will eventually filter out with your filter sock, the skimmer will even get some of it as well. What type of goby is it? He may just do it so subtly that it might not be that big of deal.

[MattCarm]

I was planning on a randall's goby (Amblyeleotris randalli)... what do you think?

[Octoshark]

I have a Randall's goby and he doesnt bother the sand bed too much, he just built a couple small burrows and thats all. I have never seen a cloud of "dust" from him until his pistol shrimp buddy came along, but even that wasn't too big of a deal. Although I guess it depends upon the particle size of your sand.

[Fizz71]

I wouldn't worry too much about the sand. Eventually microscopic goodies will attach to it to make it "heavier" so it won't blow around as much. It's a natural part of the tank's aging process. I used some very fine sand in the past and didn't rinse and had no problems after the tank was going for a while. You actually want that fine stuff.

I do have suspended sand particles in my current tank all the time, but that's thanks to the 2x3500gph power heads that are constantly shifting the landscape (and a bulletfish that likes to sprinkle the rock work). :)

[Chris27]

I like to vacuum my sandbed with a gravel cleaner, each time I do it I pull more of the very fine powder sand out of there, it's only a matter of time until it's all gone....

[julie180]

+1 on the gravel vac.

[andrewarrington]

I would only vacuum it enough times to get most of it out. Disturbing the sand bed will create a lot more problem than a cloudy tank.

[Chris27]

I would only vacuum it enough times to get most of it out. Disturbing the sand bed will create a lot more problem than a cloudy tank.

I'll agree that disturbing a DSB or an old, badly maintained shallow bed could prove deadly. But...A well maintained, shallow sandbed (< 2") can benefit greatly with a regular vacuuming, as you will be removing detritus and whatever other organic material before it breaks down and decomposes, creating pockets of sulfur dioxide.

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'll agree that disturbing a DSB or an old, badly maintained shallow bed could prove deadly. But...A well maintained, shallow sandbed (< 2") can benefit greatly with a regular vacuuming, as you will be removing detritus and whatever other organic material before it breaks down and decomposes, creating pockets of sulfur dioxide.
+1
That seems to be a misconception among people,
DSB=Don't disturb
SSB=Clean it

[Daimyo68]

Adding the sock to your system will help more than you think. I recently got my 70g up and running, and even though i spent all day rinsing 60lbs of sand, there was still some cloudiness in the tank.

Once I added the sock... 4 hours later all clear

+1 Gravel vac 2" and less

[p7seas]

I had a hell of a time when I added my sand.The only thing that helped was a 50 mic. filter sock or cloth around my drain pipe.I had to be diligent and clean the cloth every hour or so,otherwise it would clog up. This cleared up my water in about a day,(as opposed to five days the first time I clouded up the tank and just waited for it to settle).