Live Sand - yes, I got sucked in and now it sucks...

[kmcmurtry]

OK, I am new to saltwater and reefkeeping, but not new to fish. I fell for the live sand ploy in the aisle at Petsmart and added Caribsea live sand to my 55. Just bought this 55 a week ago used and it came with some dead sand, lol, but I thought I could speed things up with this stuff.

Question: I am running a skimmer and a HOB (HOB just to help temporarily with cloudiness), there are no fish or anything living in the tank (dead rock only), but every time I move anything, the tank looks like a dust storm in the middle east. Can't see through it for a day until the skimmer catches up. Has been this way for a week. I would like to add a sand-sifting goby in future (once tank cycles), but I am afraid I won't ever see my tank again. I was hoping to move in some live rock tomorrow but am afraid anything living on it will be engulfed by crappy sand. Does anyone have experience with this stuff and does it get better, or am I going to have to either empty it and start over or be happy with my sandstorm-only tank, lol?

 

[Wicked Color]

Just be patient grasshopper......

 

[Boogie]

How much rock is in the tank? Sand comes in different sizes, I don't think the caribsea stuff is the fine sand but the previous sand might be. If its the fine sand then you're kinda stuck and won't want anything that is an aggressive burrower or sifter as it will cloud everytime. It could just be dead bacteria floating from the previous live sand that has now died. Did you wash out the old sand prior to use or just add the carib sea stuff?

 

[Boogie]

Just be patient grasshopper......

Or that...

 

[kmcmurtry]

The bag said that I really should not rinse it since they claim that alot of the good stuff washes out, so I just poured it in. And I didn't rinse the old stuff either, similarly thinking maybe it had some good stuff in it since it was immersed when I got it. Not smart I guess, but I was thinking I was going to have a while to wait while cycling so why not let nature take its course, and I don't mind the dust storms I have now if I knew it was going to improve later. The sand in the caribsea live sand bag was very fine.

 

[Wicked Color]

Dont worry about the cloudy, make sure the salinty and PH are correct, and throw a little fish food in, when the glass or sand gets a brown film the bacteria is starting the nitrification process and the tank is ready for a little bio-load (fish).

 

[Dracx]

Yep, I fell for this exact same bout of marketing lies on this exact same bag of sand. I started with several bags of various grain sizes, which I thoroughly rinsed. Then I added this "Live Sand" last. I spent weeks trying to clear it up as well and I'll give you advice on what worked for me and what failed. First, don't bother with the package of "bio magnet" that comes with it. Get the tank clear first. Also, don't bother with the off-the-shelf products that clear your tank, this just turns the cloud into sticky gobbs that clings to your glass, rock and filters. As soon as you change out a filter, it all comes back out again.

The cure for your issue will be your skimmer. It does a fantastic job of catching the particles and pulling them out. Keep rinsing out your skimmer collection cup and stir your sand a little bit twice a day. Not too much, as too much cloudyness will cause a lot of wear on your skimmer's impeller. It will take weeks to clear, but just keep stirring your sand. If you have some kind of mechanical filtration system going, then rinse your filters several times a day. Be patient and keep stirring your sand until it causes little to no cloudyness and absolutely DO NOT add any rock, decorations, corals, fish, etc until it's all cleared. You'll have an easier job of it with a bare tank.

Once my tank cleared, I did get a sand-sifting goby (Two-Spot Goby) to keep stirring the sand bed. He still uncovers some of that silt. Here's a video:
[video]http://youtu.be/8ZJJoertBew[/video]

 

[Off The Deep End]

What size skimmer do you have on your 55g? In the past my skimmer alone has cleared my tank in 24-48 hours. Clean your skimmer cup a few times a day.

 

[JCantu31]

Used nothing but caribsea in my 40breeder, and had no trouble with it. Cleared up after 5-6 hrs

 

[kmcmurtry]

It's a coralife - I think for a 65 gallon or so tank. Thanks to the skimmer, it does clear up temporarily but just as soon as you mess with anything, the cloud returns. Dracx, I will try stirring it a little a few times a day and perhaps that will rid me of the smaller particles faster - I did try viewing that video but it said it was private. I feel like just sucking all the water out and rinsing this sand like crazy, though I'm not even sure that would be enough.

 

[Wicked Color]

Trust me you dont need to stir anything, just put some fish food in and leave it alone for a few weeks with regular light and flow.
All those particles will be consumed by some organism in the system once you get some life going in there.
I really wouldn't even worry about a skimmer yet.

 

[kmcmurtry]

So all that stuff that blows around forever isn't sand? I was just thinking it was very very fine sand and that I would have to either rinse it out completely or just deal with it forever.

 

[SAZAMA]

it's worked for me every time.

 

[Dracx]

In my case, the particles were sand, powder, silt... whatever you want to call it. It wasn't an organic bloom, so bacteria would do nothing for it. Mechanical filtration had to deal with it, not biological. But, that was my experience, which is what kmcmurtry seemed to be having as well.

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

I have to agree with wicked. Believe it or not this is the only sand I have ever used in my systems. Let the tank clear on its own. All of that "silt" will eventually be completely gone, it may take some time, but it will happen. The number one piece of advice I can give is be patient. This is not a hobby where anything is or should be done quickly. Your patience WILL pay off in the end.

 

[dv3]

the fine stuff will settle to the bottom of the sand bed and you will never see it again unless you stir the sand ...and i dont mean a sand sifting goby stir i mean really stir it or vac it,which you shouldn't really be doing anyhow

 

[Mckibbonator]

I used live sand in my first nano tank. It took over a day to clear, but once it settled it was fine for the whole time I had the tank.

 

[drtymnky]

i used 80 lbs of that stuff in my tank. turns your tank into a milkshake but it will go away. jest skim wet, you gota let the tank cycle anyhow

 

[projectx]

Live sand is better than the Dry or dead, spent 4 hours rinsing 80lbs of "dead sand" and still had the cloudy tank issue.

Used the live sand in my 12g and 29g and once it settles it will be fine.

Listen to Wicked, be patient itll all work out.

 

[kmcmurtry]

thanks!

Thanks everyone, all the advice is much appreciated