Sand Troubles

[Zac]

Hey all,

I’m using sand for the first time and I could’ve sworn I rinsed the sand out good enough. I think I was outside for probably 10-15minutes. Anyways, I’ve attached a photo of my problem. When I filled the tank (I tried to do it as gently as possible) this happened. It’s been like this for roughly a day. I have an old HOB that I don’t use to hopefully clear the muck a bit. Even then. There’s a fine layer of brown stuff (I’m assuming dirt) that settled on the bottom. I’ve decided to take a couple gallons out every so often and top it off. Any other suggestions on how I can clear the water and get the layer of dirt off the sand?

[Tihshho]

I'd do a waterchange just to see how it turns out. Depending on the sand, they can be messy. Try using a plastic bag or plate in the tank where you fill the water. Also, be sure to wipe the glass down as particulates are going to get stuck to it adding haze. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/28/2022 at 10:48 AM, Zac said:

I’m using sand for the first time and I could’ve sworn I rinsed the sand out good enough. I think I was outside for probably 10-15minutes. Anyways, I’ve attached a photo of my problem. When I filled the tank (I tried to do it as gently as possible) this happened. It’s been like this for roughly a day. I have an old HOB that I don’t use to hopefully clear the muck a bit. Even then. There’s a fine layer of brown stuff (I’m assuming dirt) that settled on the bottom. I’ve decided to take a couple gallons out every so often and top it off. Any other suggestions on how I can clear the water and get the layer of dirt off the sand?

what kind of sand is it?

You just need to run fine filter floss for a few days. It can take days for something like this to clear up.  Then, you'll want to disturb the substrate with your hand and get more fines into the water column and do a massive water change.

[Zac]

On 4/28/2022 at 2:44 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

what kind of sand is it?

You just need to run fine filter floss for a few days. It can take days for something like this to clear up.  Then, you'll want to disturb the substrate with your hand and get more fines into the water column and do a massive water change.

My sand is seachem black fluorite sand 

[Dawn T]

I used the Seachem black fluorite sand in a setup. Washed it thoroughly, I THOUGHT. Thankfully, it was a very small setup, not a big tank. I ended up having to do a couple of 100% water changes to take care of the debris floating in the water.

[Jenja]

Drop in a fine foam sponge filter, like what you'd find on Amazon, not the co-op sponge filter - it'll help clear it up (I'd probably use a plastic bag to put the sponge in gently haul up and squeeze it out outside of the tank every 4 or 5 hours or so). I'd probably stop the HOB, or significantly turn it down, the flow from it is likely stirring up the surface silt. Once you can see into the tank better then vacuum close to the sand to pick up that top silt-y layer. When that's gone I'd probably turn the HOB back on and see if the clarity remains.

If all that fails, or if you'd prefer more instant results then consider using a flocculent like Seachem Clarity. Never tried it myself but in theory it'll make your HOB able to filter out the cloudiness.

[Tanked]

I think that most problems rinsing sand or other substrate arise because we do it in the wrong proportions. @Odd Duck has mentioned "fluidizing" several times.  Proper rinsing requires small amounts of sand and a lot of water moving fast enough to wash the dust away..    For sand I use the garden hose and a container tilted enough to retain only the heavier grit agitating until the fine silt is gone. For gravel, I've rinsed the gravel in a kitchen colander. Even in the colander, the gravel needs to be stirred up occasionally.

Based on the photo, I would start over.  You will never remove 100% of the silt, but the filters can only remove the suspended material.  The rest will settle out or stick to the glass, to be stirred up again later.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/29/2022 at 5:32 AM, Jenja said:

If all that fails, or if you'd prefer more instant results then consider using a flocculent like Seachem Clarity. Never tried it myself but in theory it'll make your HOB able to filter out the cloudiness.

Works just fine and does exactly what you need it to.