To Filter Or Not To Filter...

[dmarie04]

I finally have everything I need to get my 29 gallon set up and start cycling. So yesterday I washed sand (and washed it and washed it and washed it, LOL) I put the sand in and covered it with a plastic bag and slowly poured the water in. It was still pretty cloudy, though, so I went ahead and hooked up the filter and switched it on. 15 hours later it's only slightly less cloudy in there. Should I even have the filter on, or should I let it all settle down first? Would the air pump help circulate some of that out of there, or would that just cause more problems? I'm just anxious to get everything settled so I can start my cycle

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't worry the cloudiness will clear, it's completely normal.

keep the filter on, don't bother with an airstone, and start your fishless cycle

 

[DarkEntity]

Just a side note, as Sand is an abrasive its worth noting if you have a lot of sand floating in the water let it settle before turning the filter on as you dont want that going through the pump.