# Sand addition issues



## Jeepguy (Mar 19, 2008)

So I have put sand in tanks before, many many times. well this time the water just does not want to clear up. Looks almost muddy, it was play sand by the way. There are no fish in the tank, and I know once the cycle is done the bacteria will weigh down the sand and keep it settled. My qustion is, should I add some fish. Not chiclids, maybe some guppies or mollies to help the cycle. I hate to "sacrifice" fish, but at the same time I need to speed this up so I can get the plants established before adding my keeper fish. any inputs would really help. O'ya i did rinse the sand in a bucket than a pillow case, I guess you cant get it all.


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## convictkid (Jul 28, 2004)

If there are plants then you don't need to cycle before adding fish. You need to just add your fish with the plants I believe.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

If the play sand is anything like whats available in my area it's just not a good choice for substrate. It contains a lot of clay and will probably take a while to settle and if it gets disturbed will cloud the water again.

Here is an article to help you decide how to go about cycling your tank. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... ycling.php The speed at which it works can depend a lot on what your using for filtration. Wet/dry filters seem to cycle quicker than canisters. Overall it just takes some patience. :wink:


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## Jeepguy (Mar 19, 2008)

No plants in the tank yet, the light would not get through the water. Well I guess all those dead plants would be a heck of jump start on the cycle, but I'm OK, hehe. Yeah, I am thinking I got hit with a lot of clay. and Ufortunatly I live in an apartment, which means to take it out means many many trips up and down 3 flights of stairs. the particals seem small, think extra carbon would pull it out. and yes Iceblue, I know patience is the key, I just hate admitting it.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

If you can get a couple of garden hoses to run to a curb and being that high up it would suck your tank out in about 3 seconds along with the playsand. :lol:

Before I found this site I cycled my 84g tank using old fish food. It took 7 weeks. :x When I get my large tank finished I'm hoping to cut that time by at least two thirds using the fishless cycle. By the way after the cycle was done in my 84 I was able to add 20 fish to the tank at once and after a couple of weeks stopped checking the water quality. It's been running for 5 years and I have never lost a fish to bad water or disease.............aggression is a different matter.


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## Voodoo Chilli (Jun 29, 2004)

I once set up a tank with sand that took almost three weeks to clear up-- and I'd done a pretty thorough job of rinsing beforehand.

It's just gonna take time. Be patient.


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## 06ram (May 26, 2008)

I did sand in my 40, I used quikrete play sand, and it was really dirty too, I rinsed it in a bucket like 6 times, using a plain white t-shirt to strain it out each time, then I added it to my tank, placed rocks, more sand, and then water, I figured it would be very dirty once the water was added so I just added tap water onto a plate so not to stir up the sand, then let it settle for about 30 mins put a little cheapie filter on it for about an hour, then drained the water, then added the original water back in using the plate again, and my tank turned out pretty clear within an hour, I know you said you really dont want to drain the tank again, but it seems to work the best, good luck with your tank


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## Mikey13 (Apr 1, 2008)

Use pool filter sand instead. Much less dust=cloudiness, and larger, heavier particles fall very quick and likely won't bugger the filters.


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## znk (Apr 7, 2007)

Playsand is fine. Just need to rince it alot before you drop it in a tank. I rinced mine about 1/4 of a bucket at a time with a hose and an adapter. I would just put the spray on the jet setting and wiggle it through the sand. All the junk would just float out of the bucket until I was left with crystal clear water. It's a quick process.


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## Laurel (Jun 17, 2007)

iceblue said:


> When I get my large tank finished I'm hoping to cut that time by at least two thirds using the fishless cycle.


So long as you have a running tank, you shouldn't need to cycle at all. Just switch out 1/2 of your filter media from the old tank to the new tank and add an ammonia source immediately. I've done 2 tanks this way with no problems.


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## acrosstic (Mar 24, 2008)

I moved a tank, switched to sand, putting a gunky filter on the tank was all I needed for my cycle and I couldn't go fishless, no problems.

I used PFS as well, but about 2 gallons worth of sand took me about 15 min to rinse...and my tank was cloudy for about 10 hours and super clear by 24 hours.

IF it is cloudy still, empty it and refill, then all those floating particles will go with the water and hte heavy stuff will remain


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## Ispintechno (Mar 27, 2008)

I think mechanical filtration, water changes and patience is the key here. I had the same thing happen with home depot playsand... looked like poo for about two months, silt even settled on the glass.

Eventually the silt goes away with time and you end up with what looks like a riverbottom substrate which is worth the wait. I did junk a penguin 330 filter while the settling took place, but my canister filter came out good as new as the sand never reached the impellor.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Laurel said:


> iceblue said:
> 
> 
> > When I get my large tank finished I'm hoping to cut that time by at least two thirds using the fishless cycle.
> ...


Yea, I did that to set up a 29g for a mated pair of GBR's I had bought on impulse. I added 1 sponge from the canister on my 84g and it worked just fine. I never had an issue with the water quality but, my large tank will be a 350g with a 100g sump and I want to add all my Malawins at once. There will be at least 60 of them and the amount of bio I would need to feel confident they would be O.K. I just wouldn't be able to get from my 84g. Besides that, I will be feeding it ammonia for quite a while while I save up for the fish stock I want and also to bring down the high Ph I may be getting from the extensive background I built for the tank...... I will be using "squeezings" to get a jumpstart though. :thumb:

Did I actually use "while while" in a sentence. :lol:


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