# About sugar sized aragonite



## Grimmjow (May 1, 2010)

So *** put about 90 pounds into my 75g tank and Im really starting to hate it. I spent a couple hours rinsing it, filled up the tank and drained it cause it was so cloudy, and now refilled it and put a few rocks in and the next day its still cloudy. Ill insert a pic of what it looks like a day after refilling it.

My question is will this stuff get cloudy every time its disturbed or what? Im really not looking forward to a cloud in a box every time something moves. *** already spent a few days with just getting stuff into this thing and i really dont want to ditch all this sand and start over, could I just lay some bigger sand on top of it to hold it down or anything?


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## Camaro95 (Nov 11, 2010)

Rinse it as thoroughly as you can before putting it in the tank.

I recently (yesterday) rebuilt my 110g which involved plenty of sifting (I had to use strainers to take out gravel) and a complete overturning of every inch of the tank. I did a 25% water change half way through and had three HOB filters on the back. I then added my boulders stirred the sand up to cover the areas I needed. By the time I was done at 11pm, I said screw it. Did another partial to get more of the floating **** out. Left it overnight and it was fine in the morning.

Of course it gets cloudy everytime you disturb it, but it depends on how much. If you reach in and pickup a handful and drop it down, it'll settle shortly. If you disturb the entire substrate then well you'll have a mess for a couple hours.

The best way to avoid a huge mess is proper rinsing. Do only handfuls at a time and you won't have an issue. I personally rinse two or three cups three four times until the water is just lightly hazy. Never had cloudiness that I'd call a problem or detriment.


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## KiDD (Aug 20, 2010)

I put some crushed coral from Petsmart in my tank I rinsed it and rinsed it and rinsed it then put it in and filled with water it stayed cloudy for 4 days. I took it out and put in Pool Filter sand I only rinsed it once and it was only cloudy for a couple hours then settled...


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

You basically have to put it in a bucket, put a hose in it, run the water so it overflows while stirring the sand until clear. Repeat.


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

once it settles try gravel vaccing right above the surface to suck up all that dust. it took me like 8 full water changes on my 125 before i was satisfied.


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## JSI (Feb 27, 2007)

It is pretty Ã¢â‚¬Å"delicate" I guess being the best word. I can't see it being fun with any big fish that would stir up the substrate.

I have about the same thing, 80lbs in a 75 gallon mbuna tank and its ok. I have to be very slow when rescaping to not stir up too much sand.


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## BullyBuddies (Jan 4, 2012)

I did not pre-rinse and it has been a nightmare. It has been about four months and it never gets cloudy anymore unless I stir the sand while vaccuuming and it goes away fairly fast. My issue is the delicate nature like the previous reply stated. The sugar size aragonite is so light that it sinks slowly. In my tank it gets swept in the current in a few places and eventually settles on rocks. When the fish dart by that sand gets kicked up again too. Feeding time with sinking pellets for syno cats and mbuna creates a mess as well. I opted for pool filter sand in my second tank and it is awesome...sinks fast and rinsed pretty quickly. Good luck. I am tempted to change the aragonite out for pfs...


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

see guys i did the opposite. once i had it all in the tank and it was nasty i just did huge water changes over and over until it cleared up. sure its still a little bit problematic but after being setup for 2 months no more cloud and my fish have done lots of digging. they all seem to love playing around in it (mixed crushed coral argonite 40lbs) for some texture. really looks nice and stays relatively algae free. just my two cents but put in the work to get rid of the problematic dust and ull be happier in the end.


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