Rinse or not to rinse that is the Question Drysand

[fletch]

To rinse or not to rinse that is the Question (Dry Sand)

Hi Everyone I just recently setup my 75 gallon tank and I used 200lbs of SouthDown Sand as a ~4" substrate, I did a lot of research into what was the best and most affordable to use and SouthDown came up time and time again, And almost every one said not to rinse the sand as you want to keep the fine powdery sand as part of your substrate. Well I did just that, And my water was quite cloudy for a while so I added Charcoal and filter fiber to my wet/dry and to my overflow box and it finally starting to clear up after about 5 days. My concern is with this fine powder on the surface of my substrate. Will the fish or power heads stir this up and if they do is it harmful to the fish or inverts?[smiley=confused1.gif]

No most goby fish love the smaller sand. Your tank will settle down you just need to give it some time. The larger sand particles will come to the top and the finer particles will settle to the bottom in time.
You will cycle in about 6 weeks so just sit back and wait... Matt's motto: go slow let it grow.

[fletch]

So I take it you say don't rinse the sand also correct? I also put a raw table shrimp in the sump of my wet/dry to get the cycle going is it OK there or does it have to be in the tank?

[omard]

Rinse, rinse, rinse that sand before adding to tank...can take literally days to settle out otherwise..

Other "hints" (as I remember from Anthony Calfo "lecture&quot ...

Rinse, add damp sand to tank before filling - pour fill water into tupperware bowl on bottom to disperse...

Also, if adding new sand to filled tank...rinse, place in plastic bags, then sink bags to bottom before opening.

I got to watch a sand "cloud" for about a week and a half, as I recall, after using "unrinsed" Southdown...

OmarD

[fletch]

I did the same thing I didn't rinse the sand and I also have a nice sand cloud to watch for 5 days now . I did use a plate to pour the water over as to not disturb the sand that much.
* *I do like the white color of the SouthDown and I am planning to eventually get a goby and Nautilus says they like the fine sand so I still am a little confused as to what is best, as I have to wait 6 weeks or so for my tank to cycle so I guess I can put up with the fog just as long as it goes away and it won't hurt anything

[omard]

Good job fletch...you are headed down right path.

Time will pass quickly while waiting for cycle to complete...good time to "dream" and "learn" about what you want to put in it when ready (and it may not take that long)

I like my Southdown...sand sifter critters keep nice and clean, easy to "sweep" up spots they miss.

A Goby (or Gobies) a must (IMO) - think we have a good thread on them over in Fish forum. Mine are just about funnest "characters" in tank - come flying out of caves whenever I enter room and swim back and forth looking for some food to show up (literally eat right out of hand - and will go after fingers if doing anything else in tank) - just like a pair of puppies.

Go here to read more about them:

Goby FAQ


http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobies.htm

While there, check up on other species you are thinking about adding - lots of good info...

Have fun!

OmarD

[fletch]

Yah I can't wait to get some critters in there. I used to have a salt tank years ago ( fish only ) I had a French angle it was about 10" fin to fin tall I loved that fish it used to do the same thing when it seen me come over to the tank, it would get so excited to see me it would really get the water rocking it the tank LOL It would eat out of my hand all the time. one day it started to swim back and froth in the tank hitting the glass and trying to jump out of the tank it was hitting the glass cover on the tank, I didn't know what was wrong it just kept doing it and eventually it died. broke my heart, when I took it out of the tank I found out what was wrong. The light was shorting out to the water as I could feel a tingle from it when I went to remove it from the tank. The other fish didn't seem to be affected by it, I figured that was because they were a lot smaller than him ( He had more surface area ) so he got the biggest shock. Well that is when I lost my interest is my tank and sold everything. But now I want to start over, as salt water fish are some of the most amazing creatures there are.

Bummer.... well welcome back to the reefer tanks.
Come on over to the karma party... you need some.

[fletch]

Thank you!! There is one thing that I am remembering about reef tanks and that is they have a strange way of depleting your savings account LOL :'(

[Matt Rogers]

Ha. That's true!

What type of Goby are you thinking about? If it's a Diamond Goby or some kind of sand shoveler, I'd wait on the goby until there is enough crud in the sand for them to eat... at least 6 months. And feed them as well or they'll starve.