Help.. Tanks first filling question.

[OSXFreak]

So I just got my 40Gal of water, and approx 50 lbs of Live Sand as well as my rock in place.

So right now the tank is cloudy, I was expecting that, as I did not use a plate and sand went all over :(.. So I was wondering should I NOT turn on the two Marineland 900 pumps and Remora Skimmer and let it all settle down over the night, or should I turn them one or only part of them on?

I had the skimmer on as well as pumps and the skimmer was sucking up a lot of umm stuff, so was more concerned it was grabbing the sand and what not.

Thanks

Chip

 

[wontonflip]

You can run the pumps. Just make sure that it's pointed in a way that it's not blowing the sand around and making bald spots. The cloudiness will go away. And if anything, your skimmer will skim it all out :)

 

[OSXFreak]

Thanks for the help. I think in my haste to get the water in the tank, I forgot the step of rinsing the dry rock and the sand. I know the water was clear and was pre-salted from the LFS.. So had to be the lack of rinsing. I guess I NEED to let it sit.

I have one powerhead pointing upward.. and another pointing at the rock. I decided to turn off the skimmer as it was filling up quickly and figured by the time I wake up it will be overflowing back in to the tank..

Thanks

Chip

 

[wontonflip]

Well, if the sand and rocks are live, you don't want to rinse them except in salt water. You should only rinse dry sand.

 

[OSXFreak]

Ahhh gotcha. When I read the bag, they said no need to rinse. And was a little wet when I. Put in tank. I think skimmmer is going on as well

Thanks

 

[wontonflip]

imho the bags of "live sand" is a waste of money. A few good pieces of live rocks are enough to seed a tank. I almost bought live, but thank god I wasn't in a rush anyway, so I opted to save my money and get dry sand :)

 

[RollTide15]

I have a 40g Breeder, same size as you. I have a MaxiJet 600 in Circulation Mode and it puts out plenty of movement through out my tank. Shit it moves 1/5 of the sand in 2 days. Are they both in Circ mode or both in power head mode. I think two 900s is overkill. You will find that it is going to move all of your sand around in to big huge mountains in about 3 hours. My 600 get flow throughout the entire tank, I will try and post a video of my plate coral and how much it moves and it is on the tale end of the circulation. Maybe I am wrong but I think you would do fine with one 900.

 

[cvcdrk]

Skimmers are designed to create bubbles, the surface of which is covered in proteins and other gunk....as far as I know they should have no effect at all on sand in the water column....but I could be wrong.
Over time, the sand will settle. It's not a big deal since there's nothing living in there anyway. Just give it a few days.

 

[OSXFreak]

I have a 40g Breeder, same size as you. I have a MaxiJet 600 in Circulation Mode and it puts out plenty of movement through out my tank. Shit it moves 1/5 of the sand in 2 days. Are they both in Circ mode or both in power head mode. I think two 900s is overkill. You will find that it is going to move all of your sand around in to big huge mountains in about 3 hours. My 600 get flow throughout the entire tank, I will try and post a video of my plate coral and how much it moves and it is on the tale end of the circulation. Maybe I am wrong but I think you would do fine with one 900.

LMAO ok so I set this up last night I put in the two 900's and Skimmer woke up this AM with all the sand in the middle of my tank sitting on the sides under the power heads. So yeah thinking it's overkill..

For now until everything settles down, I'm going to buy a HOB Filter to try to get all this sediment out that probably came from my dry rock that was not washed first (DUH), and then once it's good, I'll run One 900 in Circ mode.. I was originally looking at the 500 but the 900 was same price :)

Thanks for the advise on the one head being enough and would love to see the video...

Chip

 

[OSXFreak]

Skimmers are designed to create bubbles, the surface of which is covered in proteins and other gunk....as far as I know they should have no effect at all on sand in the water column....but I could be wrong.
Over time, the sand will settle. It's not a big deal since there's nothing living in there anyway. Just give it a few days.

At this point all I have is time.. :) woke up this AM freaking out.. the tank was still the same, all sand moved from center to sides and all kinds of brown sticks and furry things floating around in the tank. not sure what it all is and hard to see due to the tank being murky white.

I pulled out all dry rock, washed it off and tried to move the sand back in to place then placed dry rock back in tank. It's now sitting there with just the skimmer running, and no power heads. just waiting for it all to settle down and clear up

thanks

Chip

 

[RollTide15]

LMAO ok so I set this up last night I put in the two 900's and Skimmer woke up this AM with all the sand in the middle of my tank sitting on the sides under the power heads. So yeah thinking it's overkill..

For now until everything settles down, I'm going to buy a HOB Filter to try to get all this sediment out that probably came from my dry rock that was not washed first (DUH), and then once it's good, I'll run One 900 in Circ mode.. I was originally looking at the 500 but the 900 was same price :)

Thanks for the advise on the one head being enough and would love to see the video...

Chip

Yeah, even one 900 might be a bit much but you should be ok. It will just move your sand a bit and you will have to move it back. I would take back the other 900. If you need more flow in the future in a specific part of the tank, say for a specific coral, just get a 400 and put it in power head mode. People at the LFS and on alot of these threads have big tanks and often over recommend power heads/water movement in small tanks.

 

[cvcdrk]

If you have a basic filter with some carbon it will significantly speed up the settling process and once the water looks clear you can take it off the tank.

 

[OSXFreak]

I picked up a canister and it has helped. It should ne all cleared up by tomorrow.

Will be picking up a glass brush to clean off the dust on the glass and pumps.

Thanks for advise.

Chip

 

[OSXFreak]

So I thought I was out of the woods this AM. But after tapping one piece of Rock, poof the fine particles that were making the tank cloudy were now floating again. So ran to store to get some micro filter pads and put those in the tank.

Is it normal for just slightly touching the rock or sand for it to make clouds? the stuff seems so fine, it's hard to imagine a fish not creating a cloudy mess.

Is it a good idea to run canister filter, and clean the filters often, and after every filter change, tap the rocks to stir up the powder stuff?

 

[Laz]

OSX, ideally your whole canister filter should be filled with filter floss, and that really should be washed out every three hours.

 

[OSXFreak]

Laz,

Thanks for the info. Sadly my canister is one of those API nexx filter, so kinda of hard to fill, but I did stuff some Super Micro filter padding in the open chamber before it hits the charcoal filters. I also purchased some pads for the top to use. I think it will work.

In addition, I loaded a bit of this in the Remora Skimmer where exits. So maybe that will help as well.

Ultimately I've learned that this all is probably coming from my Dry Marco Rock which was NOT washed first. As I shift the sand just a little bit this fine stuff comes up. So will keep doing that for a bit until it lessens. I also read somewhere, but can not find it, that this fine stuff will clump up eventually.. wonder if anyone knows or agree's...