5.5 gallon

[Reefer769]

hey everyone!

i just put water into a 5.5 gallon aquarium with about a 2" tropical play-sand bed. the water is very cloudy, and i have a penguin mini power filter on there for filtration. should i run the filter while the tank is cloudy? or should i keep it off and let the sand settle? remember this is a PENGUIN mini powerfilter. and would anyone recommend i make the sandbed a little bigger? or is a 2" sand bed considered a DSB in a 5.5 gallon aquarium?

[Reefland]

A deep sand bed will not function as a live filter until it is +3", prefferably +4" regardless of the size of tank you are running.

As for the cloudiness, I would go ahead and run the filter now. This will help reduce the cloud and if you did leave it off until the cloud settled and then turned it on, it would cloud up from the flow.

[Reefer769]

should i put the filter media in it? or should i just run it without the filter pad until it settles down?

[patsfan1130]

should i put the filter media in it? or should i just run it without the filter pad until it settles down?

Run it with the filter pad and rinse it daily until the cloudiness settles

[Reefer769]

do i have to? wouldnt it be easy to just run it without the filter pad and put it in when it clears up?

[patsfan1130]

do i have to? wouldnt it be easy to just run it without the filter pad and put it in when it clears up?

The filter pad is going to help clear dust from the tank

[Reefland]

Running the filter without any type of carbon or other media in it is just going to ensure that once the cloud does settle, it is settled with the flow of the tank already. If you are going to run it, why wouldn't you run it with any carbon or other media in it?