Oh It's Horrible!

[Odysseus]

So here is what happened. I decided I'd do a sand substrate for my brand new 55 gallon that I didn't even start cycling yet. I went to the hardware store and bought a bag of playsand/natural sand. I turned my filter off and poured some of it into the water. When I put some in, it got clouded jut a little bit, which is what I expected. Now things went from bad to worse. Here is a picture of the scene.



That was one day after I poured the sand in. The water was so thick I could not see an inch into it. There was foam all over the surface, so much that it coated the underside of the hood. That was taken while I used a gravel vacuum to drain the whole thing into a garden hose which led to the nearest sink. What did I do wrong? Am I going to have to scoop all the sand out, bring this heavy, heavy tank upstairs from my basement, hose it out, and bring it back down? I don't think my back can take it

 

[ihasanzongi]

did you wash the sand really good? i think thats what happened, i usually take out 90% of the water when i put my sand in so it settles down to the bottem really fast.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

what kind of filter do you have? if it's a canister, then you can just take out all the media and stuff some clean pillow batting into it. run that for a few days and it should get rid of most of floating junk.

(this is why you should always wash your sand more times than you really think necessary)

 

[Leahzebelle]

i never thought of only having so much water in the tank....that is a good idea ihasanzongi.....o-o sorry about your tank Odysseus

 

[afishdude]

you have to rinse playsand for atlease 15 minutes under flowing water to get the cloudy out of it. you cant just dump it in there.

 

[idlefingers]

If it's not even started cycling, empty it, get the sand out, rinse it, put it back in and fill 'er up again!

 

[indigoj]

I must have been lucky, got playsand from toy master and just threw it in (dry tank) and now (1 week into cycle) water is clear as anything.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Okay well I've never attempted to use sand as a substrate, but is it normal for sand (even if not properly rinsed) to foam up that badly? Are you sure that the play sand wasn't treated with any anti-mildewing agents, etc?

 

[J.H]

yep the sand foams up when washing it

 

[afishdude]

mined did also.

 

[backtotropical]

I know Argos play sand comes already washed, maybe similar to yours indigoj, but maybe not all brands are pre-washed??

If you can get the foam off the surface, the rest will clear on its own, just with your filter running.

 

[DazedNCoNfUsEd]

The same thing happened when I put sand in my 55 gallon, I didn't rinse my sand either. I waited a couple of days for it settle on its own a little, then let my filter take care of the rest. I have a penguin bio-wheel so what I did was use pantyhose... yes pantyhose and wrapped them around the filter cartridges as many times as I could. Then I picked up that stuff called Crystal Clear, and started using that and my tank cleared up in a few days.

Just make sure you don't stir up any sand while the filter is on, good way to destroy it..........

Penguin Bio-Wheel 200....

 

[Odysseus]

Sorry but I was gone for the weekend. Anyway, right now I plan to take the whole tank up to my backyard, hose it out, and fill it with again with PLAY sand that I will wash BEFORE putting it in the tank. All the foam left this scum residue on the hood and the sides....lovely. I hope this brings a lesson to whoever wants to try sand for a substrate. How I am going to bring a 55 gallon tank upstairs rather downstairs is a mystery.

 

[Danno]

Uhm, if I were you I would purchase a python if you don't have one already and about 20 feet of clear aquarium canister filter hose. Fill it and drain it at the same time. Run the clear house out a window (if you don't live in the city) and fill it with a python.

Your filter might not be dead. Take the impeller out and wash the impeller compartment and squirt around the area with a turkey baster. Turn the filter on and if it doesn't start poke the impeller with a stick to see if it hums.

 

[Odysseus]

Uhm, if I were you I would purchase a python if you don't have one already and about 20 feet of clear aquarium canister filter hose. Fill it and drain it at the same time. Run the clear house out a window (if you don't live in the city) and fill it with a python.

Your filter might not be dead. Take the impeller out and wash the impeller compartment and squirt around the area with a turkey baster. Turn the filter on and if it doesn't start poke the impeller with a stick to see if it hums.

Thanks for the advice. I sure do regret not talking to you guys about sand before I went out and did this...