matt noyes

Hi there,
I just got a 29 gallon tank and set it up for salt water, however
after I did the leak test I conditioned the water and stupidly pour my
substrate into the water (20 lb of aragonite). Should I let the
particles settle naturally or should I run my filtration system
(eclipse 3 system) to remove the excess sediment from the water? Many
thanks in advance
Matt Noyes
matthewnoyes@nospamcomcast.net
To reply please remove nospam from email address

billy

| Hi there,
| I just got a 29 gallon tank and set it up for salt water, however
| after I did the leak test I conditioned the water and stupidly pour
my
| substrate into the water (20 lb of aragonite). Should I let the
| particles settle naturally or should I run my filtration system
| (eclipse 3 system) to remove the excess sediment from the water?
Many
| thanks in advance

Up to you, mostly. I did the same thing, and I don't think the act
was stupid, IMO it's pretty normal for it to cloud like that. I even
risned the crap out of the arag, it still clouded up so bad I
couldn't see the back of the tank. I let it settle for a while, but
got impatient to start setting up the base rockwork and set a
canister filter to run on it and it cleared up overnight. IOW, no
worries.

billy

kellbot

Mine clouded too, almost to the point where I couldn't see in the tank
at all. I just let my filter run for a few days, rinsing out the pad a
few times, and it cleared up quickly.
It'll also settle to the bottom, and you'll notice clouds of crud
coming out when you do water changes.

john d. maag

Don't worry about the substrate. I made the mistake of taking it out and
washing it. I should have just lefy iy alone. It won't bother anything you
put in there. It will only bother your view. Don't worry about it. Live rock
will absorb over time anyway.

If you wer enot planning on running live rock - rethink.

tre landrum

Just as an aside what if one needed to add more substrate to an established
tank? Rinse the begeezers out of it, add a few filters, and pray for the
best?

Tre'

glenn

Not at all. Simply slow the flow way down (temporarily), and add the new
stuff as carefully as you can to avoid stirring up too much. Let it settle
down on its own. It will clear in a couple of days with no ill affects. It
looks worse than it is.

Depending on the substrate, you don't need to rinse much. I use aragonite
sand, and the fine particles are what you want to keep, not rinse away.
When the bacteria starts to attach to the particles, they settle out fast.

ghztew

I used a long tube in my tank aimed it at the areas in the sand bed
that I wanted to add more sand. Then very slowly, you pour the new sand
down through the tube. The amount of dust afterwards will be very
minimal.

mark c.

How about a new funnel with a piece of PVC attached?

--
Mark C. Jack of all trades, master of none. (well, maybe a couple)

I r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d