# New Sand! Cloudy Water



## Brucers1 (Jan 8, 2013)

Hi Everyone,

I added some coral sand to my normal sand in my aquarium (250 ltrs) I washed it about 20 times, however my water has still gone very very cloudy, I did this last night. It has cleared a little but I'm worried about the fish.

I've turned off my Wavemaker to let the sand particles settle. Should I leave it off? I am running a tetra tec 1200 external filter which is skimming the water to create oxygen but not as much as I would have liked.

I am planning on doing a 25% water change when I get home from work.

Is there anything else I can do? 
Will my fish be harmed - Other then hate me for it!
I have ordered Seachem Clarity, is that ok to use?

Please everyone help me!


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Your fish will be fine. A water change won't hurt either -just be especially careful not to stir up any more sand. I would leave the Wavemaker off, too - you want to let the floating particles settle and extra current will make that take longer. There is nothing wrong with using the Clarity, but it doesn't ready speed up the process, IMO.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would not use the Clarity. If the fish dig they might stir the sand whether you do or not. If it continues, the ultimate solution is to remove the substrate and wash.


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## Brucers1 (Jan 8, 2013)

What about Oxygen? I've left the top of the tank open a little and my outlet pipe is disturbing the surface a little. Will that be ok for oxygen for 48 hours? The sand has settled a little more now, any tips for when I do a water change not to stir up the sand again??? Thanks


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## Brucers1 (Jan 8, 2013)

I did wash it over 20 times, will the filter not pick it up? Also I will do 2 water changes a week so that will pick it up wont it?


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

I tried the clarity and thought it made things worse - although only for awhile.


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

btw, the way I finally decided to wash sand was the following. I put it in a bucket and added water to let it overflow while stirring up the mass of sand. Then after some time of this I'd pour off the water and start over - finally I would add water while stirring and then pour off after 5 mins. This gets rid of the stuff that doesn't settle quickly. I kept doing this until the added water was fairly clear after the 5 min mark. I found that trying to wash sand in a net bag just didn't work as well because the sand compacts and traps too much fine stuff.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Slip some pantyhose over the filter intake. Hasn't let me down yet.


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## theoryguru (Oct 11, 2011)

Don't worry crushed coral take a long time to clear, don't bother with any Clarity.


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