Quick Question About Sand

[mbriggs84]

How long does it usually take for the "milky" water to settle after adding sand to a tank? And should I have the filter turned on while it is settling?

 

[karawr]

I let the sand settle for an hour then turn the filter on and have never had problems.

As for the murky water, did you rinse the sand? I guess it's too late for that anyways.

The filter will help clear it up some, but water changes will eventually get rid of it.

 

[mbriggs84]

thanks, yeah I rinsed several times. It doesn't look like the water is very dirty it just looks like a lot of sand particles floating around in the tank are giving it a milky color.

 

[mtv8dmarine]

It will clear eventually. It all depends on how well the sand is rinsed. Mine took a few days I think to clear.

 

[NewbeeSteve]

Let it settle gradually without the filter on for the first 2 hours. Please take this from my personal experience. The milky water is sand particles floating around and if the filter is on will clog up the propellor.

Hope this helps

 

[Aquamaniac]

I used sand on my previous tank.Its normal if you use sand to have milky water for the first day or so. Just give it some time and the dust will settle and your water will be fine.
The downside is when this sand particles settle down your plants and rocks will be covered with them.
Thats why i don't use sand anymore in my own tanks.

But appart from that annoying side effect your tank will be ok in a few days.

 

[minnnt]

Ensure you rinse all media after a few days along with the impeller as it will cause a fair amount of damage to them if left in there. If you have any filter wool in your filter then remove it and replace with new, you will be amazed how much sand will be in there!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Chuck a load of cotton wool in the filter and give it a night and it will clear.

 

[AnimalHouse36]

Mine was REALLY cloudy, and I couldn't afford to leave my fish out of the tank,
so after an hour I turned the filter on and did about 25 water changes over the course of another hour, with warm water because the sand really chilled the temp. It helped ALOT, but it was still cloudy.
I did it at 9:00 at night, the next morning at 7:00 it was crystal clear.