Removing Sand Dust

[hachadwick]

My dad has a 125 gallon tank with three fish and live rock. When we put the sand in the tank about 1 month ago, it was 120 pounds of live sand! We did not rinse the stuff for fear of rinsing the live stuff out or killing it will the tap water.

The tank has been real dusty due to the dust from the sand. We're talking dust so fine it's not visible! It's like powdered sugar small!..lol

We have a mechanical filter system going on it but it filled up the filter media in just a few hours. We are running a skimmer but have not got it fine tuned yet.

My question for the forum is will a skimmer pull out really small dust particles on a large scale?

 

[RockStacker]

The skimmer might pull out some particles.

You might have better luck with running the mechanical filter and keep cleaning/replacing the filter media until the water clears up.

 

[hachadwick]

Ok, thats what I thought. I have read online that letting the filter media get real dirty will help pull more particles. Another words, don't clean everyday. What do you think?

 

[Bifferwine]

I haven't heard that, but it makes sense -- the more clogged the filter gets, the more stuff is going to get trapped by it, because it's clogged up.

 

[hachadwick]

We even tried the stuff you add to help clear and settle the water....it just turned the water a orange color..lol

 

[hachadwick]

What about a large water change....like 50% or something?

 

[bigford]

use a filter sock that will grab the finest particles

CPR Aquatic Sock-It Sump Inlet Pre-filter connects to standard 1" fittings, pipe or hose and includes pre-filter holder, adjustable inlet tube, attachment bracket for vertical and Euro-brace rims and a 200-micron pre-filter bag.