[HUMNBIRD]

Hi, I am just setting up a reef tank, the tank is completely empty - this will be my 4th saltwater tank but my 1st with reef. My problem stems with sand - I placed sand in and everything was going great until I decided that it wasn't enough so I got more - I came home from work and my wonderful husband and I decided to take the whole bag of sand and just dump it into the tank ... Yup, you can guess what happened... I wasn't too upset when I saw the cloudy discolored water at first because this was expected either way but now it has been 3 days and still no change. I spent an hour yesterday skimming gunk off the top of the tank - I have removed 1/2 of the water but replacing it only stirred more up. My daughter has suggested shutting everything down to allow it to settle... Is there anything I can do or just let everything run and let time do it's thing... I know not to rush it but this has become a frustrating turn of events that I wasn't prepared for at all -

[HUMNBIRD]

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[Steven Pro]

Is there livestock in the tank now? If not, you could just shut down the tank for the time being to allow things to settle. Otherwise, more water changes, mechanical filtration, and protein skimming will help.

By the way, are you aware of the existence of PMASI, the Pittsburgh Marine Aquarium Society, Inc.? You should check it out, www.pmas.org

[HUMNBIRD]

Thanks for the reply - as of right now there is absolutely no livestock in the tank - my levels are all over the place. I am really having a rough time with this set up - it will work out in the end.

Thanks for the website info - I will check it out

[Reefland]

Hi HUMNBIRD,


You could shut it down as Steven suggested but also keep in mind that as soon as you start it up the circulation is going to blow more around and it might cloud back up to an extent. I would just let it run it's course and maybe use a little filter floss.

[My2heartboys]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Hi HUMNBIRD,


You could shut it down as Steven suggested but also keep in mind that as soon as you start it up the circulation is going to blow more around and it might cloud back up to an extent. I would just let it run it's course and maybe use a little filter floss.

Scott, I am rather new at this, but your suggestion makes a lot of sense. I would go so far as to suggest that the floss be replaced 2x daily--that may be over kill though.

Humnbird, if it is any consolation--my hubby pulled something similar not too long ago. I had a bag of sand that I was adding a little at a time---but dear hubby got tired of having to step over it, so one morning he decided to dump a couple of bowlfuls of the stuff in there. Well, I had already had one 'bout with red slime that I had just gotten the upper hand on. Yep--less than 12 hours and I had a full bloom of the stuff again.

All I can say is that it worked out with good timing, though. I was going to have to stir my sandbed to bring up the finer stuff that my black cucumber likes to the top. So now I am stirring part of it about twice a week and doing water changes with it.

Anne

[showfish]

If there is no living animals in the tank, not too much to worry about. It will clear itself up. I would keep everything running, including the skimmer, if you have one. Everything should settle down in time. This is a new set-up so you have about a month or so to kill anyway.

[Reefland]

a month or so to kill anyway

There's one way to look at it.

[HUMNBIRD]

The tank is totally empty - only sand and water. Should I go ahead a place the base since the whole tank is a cloudy mess anyway? I don't want to clear things up only to add my base and totally stir all this up again and again and again... I am not new to saltwater tanks but I am in regards to sand - I really feel like I am doing something wrong.

[Reefland]

I would. Adding the bacteria to your tank will help to reduce the cloud as the colonies develop.

[HUMNBIRD]

Looks like this will be what I'm doing tonite. Thanks!