I just added, actually a week ago, some sand. The ammonia and nitrate levels are good. The ph level is slightly high but that is ok. The only problem with the addition of the sand is that the water started to be more cloudily ? i Don’t know why . Any suggestions on how to make it crystal clear again ? tx

that is normal...sand dust in water. it will clear up as tank come to ages.
just make sure that the filter discharge will not stir too much of the sand.

Paul I'm getting ready to set up my new tank and will be doing sand instead of gravel... is there a way to prevent what RokyG has going on?

Brooksie

Rinse Rinse and Rinse AGAIN!!!

no way but it can be reduced. put the sand in a plastic bag, submerge it in water,
inverted and slowly pull out the plastic.... less cloudy

another way is to use PVC pipe as spout for the sand. gradually pour the sand in it
and it will settle at the bottom.

ha ha ha clever isn't it?

very!

i used a 5 gallon bucket, cut a hole in the side at the bottom, stuck a water hose in it and put a load of duct tape on it so it wouldnt leak... fill up about 1/4-1/3 the bucket with sand, and just very slightly turn on the water and allow it to fill up and overflow the bucket, stirr till the water coming up thru the sand is clear, 10-15 minutes or so. all the dust it gone.

yea but the problem is that i've put the sand in the water more than a week ago.

did you just put the sand from the bag into the tank? or did you rinse it out first???

eventually your filtration and regualar water changes should remove the fine particles of dust. give it some time to settle out.

RokyG wrote:

perhaps you don't have polishing pad or wool filter to catch the particles.
it should had settle down in 2 days....

i suggest you get a bucket, fill it with tank water, and wash your mechanical
filter in it... it will catch more dust afterward...

put a polishing pad in you filter for a day or 2

In my experience, you can wash substrate until the cows come home and you will still end up with murky water once you add it to the tank. That has already been suggested, it doesn't last too long, might take a few days to clear if it is particularly bad but it will not harm your fish so don't lose sleep over it.