Settling Substrate

[blendingshadow]

Hey,

I just bought my first big tank, 450L and I have decided to mix 3mm pea gravel with silver sand. I poured the water in over the rock and the water is quite cloudy.

How long will it take for the sand to settle and is there anything I can do to speed it up?

The tank is planted but too heavily yet and I am using a tetratec ex 1200 external filter.

Any help would be really appreciated

 

[fishprotector]

Did you clean the sand before you put it in?

 

[blendingshadow]

No, but it said that it came washed. Clearly I am a fool. Is there a way around this?

 

[CezzaXV]

Even the washed ones tend to be pretty dirty. It'll clear in a few days, so don't worry about it.

 

[blendingshadow]

I have a small shoal of danio in there. Will they be bothered if the water is a little murky?

 

[CezzaXV]

Nope, not at all. Perfectly clear waters are pretty rare in nature, they can easily handle it. Some fish even prefer it.

 

[blendingshadow]

Haha, sounds like aesthetic thing more for me at the moment, wanting to see the shaol n hoping they can see the food...