# Sand tank not as clean as rock tank



## nasomi (Apr 20, 2011)

Side by side, the difference is night and day. I thought after a day of running filters on both the sand tank would clear up, but it hasn't. I drained the tank, took it out, and washed it. I put the sand in a bin and rinsed it thoroughly again and again, filled it with 20gal of water, and it didn't clear up after sitting for an hour. Should I just replace the sand?


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Guessing the sand is play sand?

I for one will not use play sand again, cause yes rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more it never removes all the baby fine particles. You just have to rise as much as you can tollerate, then put it in and let the particles settle to the bottum.


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## nasomi (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm not sure what play sand is, but the sand came from an aquarium shop.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Oh, play sand comes from the local hardware store. sand from the pet store should be fairly clean it will settle out. The water packed ECO Complete products are the best.


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

Sand will take a lot more time to settle than gravel. Give it days, not hours.


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## nasomi (Apr 20, 2011)

Ok, thanks for the info. As long as it gets clear eventually, I feel a lot better.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

This is pretty common with sand substrate actually. Pack your filter with Poly-Fil and just rinse the media as needed til clear.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

i used similar stuff.. took about 3 days to totally clear up.. just be patient.


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## Rob72 (Apr 2, 2011)

mine did the same thing, i packed the filter with poly fil and it took about 2 days to clean up, i did peat moss and sand and rock, it was bad the first 2 days but good now crystal clear, just takes time


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## GuppyNGoldfish (Mar 28, 2011)

Can you have a tank with only sand in it? Or do you have to use gravel also?


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## nasomi (Apr 20, 2011)

my one tank has just sand, with the exception of a couple tiny pebbles, and it's actually looking pretty good now, other than highly inadequate lighting.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

I will def use less sand and some gravel on my next build. Other than changing the look all it really does is help to trap in the sand and add more places for BB to grow.


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## nasomi (Apr 20, 2011)

Mine looks a bit murky but it's really not, the light is just piss poor.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I use sand in most of my tanks and never had a problem with it being clear in just a couple of hours. The secret is to add water slowly and putting a plate on top of the sand where the water goes in, so it hits the plate first.


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## nasomi (Apr 20, 2011)

When I filled mine, I hit the driftwood first so it sprayed all over, when I did it the second time. Made it a lot clearer and only took a bit to clear up.


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