Help: everything white after adding sand

[kouma]

So I filled my tank with RO/DI water, which took more than two days to fill up.

Then, when it was time to add the sand, using 160lbs of aragonite special grade reef sand, I added the sand straight into the tank without washing :(

I read on the bag that is it recommended to wash it, but it is okay to also just add it in. It was supposedly going to settle in 1-2 days. I didnt want to introduce any tap water into my tank by washing the sand using tap water, that was my motivation for adding it directly.

Now i regret it very much. After two days of milky tank, I am able to see my live rock now. However, everytime I move anything in the sand it gets cloudy again. This is pathetic. Moreover, my all sump, pumps, skimmers, and everything is covered with a layer of white.

Please help what shall I do at this stage to get rid of the cloudiness and the layer of white everywhere....I really don't want to remove all the sand again and the water and start all over. My live rock has been there for sometime and is supposedly establishing my tank.

[fishyfish22]

Was it live sand?

[Rilelen]

I didn't wash my sand either for the same reason; only had tap water on hand and didn't want to deal with possible issues from it. It took almost a week to settle. I was starting to despair that it ever WOULD settle to be honest. Give it some time and try to resist the urge to get your hands in the tank while it's settling. In the meantime, if you have a filter sock or prefilter it's worth trying (helped clear my water for sure) - filter floss can also be good if you're using a canister or HOB filter. And it won't stir up at a second's notice forever - as the sand starts to grow bacteria on it, it will get "heavier" and tend to stay down more easily. I got a turkey baster and used it to "clean" all the sand off my live rock etc once the sand had settled.

[fishyfish22]

That sums it about up. Bactria grows and weights down the sand, so when that happens it'll be A good thing. If you have a pile of dry rock with the live rock all the way on the top, put a piece on the sand bed so the bacteria can spread. Don't worry about the cloudiness, it happens to everyone using new sand. Happened to me.

[kouma]

Thanks guys for the replies. The Turkey baster is a good idea, i will try it to clean all the white stuff. The only thing now my skimmer is all white from inside and I can't take it out and clean it because it will require me to take the whole sump out. Any suggestions on how to clean it from inside?

[Amatuer21]

Next time add your sand before the water. Not much you can do besides wait it out

[shaginwagon13]

So I filled my tank with RO/DI water, which took more than two days to fill up.

Then, when it was time to add the sand, using 160lbs of aragonite special grade reef sand, I added the sand straight into the tank without washing :(

I read on the bag that is it recommended to wash it, but it is okay to also just add it in. It was supposedly going to settle in 1-2 days. I didnt want to introduce any tap water into my tank by washing the sand using tap water, that was my motivation for adding it directly.

Now i regret it very much. After two days of milky tank, I am able to see my live rock now. However, everytime I move anything in the sand it gets cloudy again. This is pathetic. Moreover, my all sump, pumps, skimmers, and everything is covered with a layer of white.

Please help what shall I do at this stage to get rid of the cloudiness and the layer of white everywhere....I really don't want to remove all the sand again and the water and start all over. My live rock has been there for sometime and is supposedly establishing my tank.

You are fine. You don't have to wash it and in a couple it will have settled and be normal and clear looking.

[ca1ore]

First of all, nothing wrong with washing the fines out of your dry sand with regular old tap water - I do it all the time and have never had an issue (and if you actually think about it, why would you have a problem).

Dry sand has a hell of a lot of crap in it, that I wouldn't want in my tank, but all is not lost. As someone noted, run a filter sock, plan to clean it frequently; that plus your skimmer will remove many of the fines. Regular tank circulation ought to keep them suspended until they can be filtered out, but by all means blast your rocks to blow off the dust.

[ca1ore]

Bactria grows and weights down the sand, so when that happens it'll be A good thing.

Sorry, but this is just about the silliest thing I have ever heard in my life (right up there with the view that 'the Earth must be heavier now because of the high population of humans'). Do you have any idea of the 'weight/mass' of bacteria? Google it! Certainly biological activity will cause small particles to 'agglomerate' (and fines will tend to settle towards the bottom of your sand bed) but it has nothing to do with weighing down the sand.

[fishyfish22]

Sorry, but this is just about the silliest thing I have ever heard in my life (right up there with the view that 'the Earth must be heavier now because of the high population of humans'). Do you have any idea of the 'weight/mass' of bacteria? Google it! Certainly biological activity will cause small particles to 'agglomerate' (and fines will tend to settle towards the bottom of your sand bed) but it has nothing to do with weighing down the sand.

Sorry. Haha I was just speaking a theory out loud :P we didn't cover the weight of bacteria in bio freshman year. maybe next year in ap bio well learn something about it! Ok, but wouldn't the bacteria bond closer making the sand appear to be heavier? Not really weighing it down but connecting it therefore not letting it float up and turn the tank into a snow globe with the smallest movement of water?

[Rilelen]

No, of course it doesn't help by literally increasing the WEIGHT of the sand...I think we were speaking figuratively! It will have the effect of "weighing" down the sand, though, for the reasons you mentioned. : )

[Quick_Ben]

This happens to me every time new sand is used. On my third tank I washed everything and it still happened, although much less. The cure for me was running an old canister filter with a ton of floss material in it. Secondly, a cheap powerhead with a clear water bottle attached to the input (also filled with floss) and the bottom removed. This combination cleared the tank overnight with ease. Whatever technique you prefer to polish water will remove the particulates coming off the sand. As long as it has a chance to settle without disturbing it too much it'll stay that way. Then the real fun begins.
Old canister filters are great for running emergency carbon, polishing, really anything that will fit in a filter bag. They can get heavy and are a pain to clean but still can be useful.

[ca1ore]

No, of course it doesn't help by literally increasing the WEIGHT of the sand...I think we were speaking figuratively! It will have the effect of "weighing" down the sand, though, for the reasons you mentioned. : )

BTW, apologies if my post appeared a bit blunt. I actually though the whole notion was very funny.

On the general topic of washing sand 80:20 rule applies here I think. No need to go totally OCD, and wear your fingers to nubs getting every last bit of fines out of the sand. Just wash out the worst of the crud and let your filters and natural settling processes take care of the rest.

[Rilelen]

No worries, I giggled myself when I read your post, imagining a hundred million little bacteria jumping up and down on a grain of sand trying to hold it down. It IS funny to picture!