I put in sand

[beany_bot]

I put in Sand from the loch near me (Loch Lomond) and deliberatly DIDNT clean it as i thought this would help my cycle the tank quicker as it was bound to allready be full of beneficial bacteria. To add to that i just put the hose right on top of it agitating it up into a soup!! but with even all that it cleared in about 48 hours. just be patient. As to the filter - dont have it sitting on the sand - raise it up on suction cup things and you should be fine - my peppered corys LOVE IT!

 

[doresy]

I put in Sand from the loch near me (Loch Lomond) and deliberatly DIDNT clean it as i thought this would help my cycle the tank quicker as it was bound to allready be full of beneficial bacteria. To add to that i just put the hose right on top of it agitating it up into a soup!! but with even all that it cleared in about 48 hours. just be patient. As to the filter - dont have it sitting on the sand - raise it up on suction cup things and you should be fine - my peppered corys LOVE IT!

Anything, especially substrate, taken from 'nature' should be thoroughly washed before using in an aquarium. There is every chance of the substrate containing UN-friendly bacteria (among other things ) and practically no chance of any friendly bacteria.

This is definately NOT good practice

 

[TylerFerretLord]

When I change to sand I'm going to place plastic bags over the sand beforehand. Then I fill up and remove the bags. No cloudy water!