Sand Emergency!!!!!!

[Cyclura]

Ok, so i just put in 20lbs of new live sand that i got from the store today. No matter how i put it in, i still ended up with a huge sandstorm. Then when i collapsed on the couch afterwords, i was reading the back of the sand bag and it said "warning: placing new live sand over estalished substrate may be damaging to aquatic life, mix carefully with fingers over the course of a few days"

i was like "great!...now they tell me!" i have 2 true percs and 1 pulsating xenia and a cleanup crew...did i just kill everything????????? Oh my gosh im sooo upset! what do i do?????

[Stevej72]

Relax, Breath, Your tank will get through this. I did this once after moving a tank.
I wrapped all my power heads with filter floss, and added it in my overflow which cleared it up within 24 hours (more like 12 - 16 hours) but my tank is only 24 gal.
How old is your setup?

[Cyclura]

6 weeks tomorrow, i cant even see my clowns unless they come right up to the glass....what about the hermits and snails that may have been buried in the sand? will they be able to burrow back up?

[gwen_o_lyn]

everything will be ok- trust me ;)

but you may wanna slow down. You prolly shouldn't have fish in a tank that is only 6 weeks old.

[Stevej72]

what about the hermits and snails that may have been buried in the sand? will they be able to burrow back up?


Mine did, just try to keep filter floss on any power heads to pull out the suspended dust

[Cyclura]

everything will be ok- trust me ;)

but you may wanna slow down. You prolly shouldn't have fish in a tank that is only 6 weeks old.


what?? i added my first two fish last week, my initial cycle had been over and my cleanup crew established, my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to this day remain at zero. I do weekly water changes of 5 gals (29gal aquarium) and aside from the HLLE in one of my clowns from being at a crappy store, everything is fine. I asked in a post on this forum and the answer i got was it could be ok to get my fish lol. I thought if anything i was waiting even longer than most people would.

[gwen_o_lyn]

there is more going on than just a cycle, but clowns are pretty hardy.
Check out Tank Maturity (http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic23945-9-1.aspx)

[Cyclura]

kk, now im really going to slow down, thanks for the help! that article was very interesting. Im kinda relieved because now i can start to save money for important things like gas and car insurance lol, as oppose to livestock. Im thinking that i will wait at least another month before i add anything else to the tank.

[gwen_o_lyn]

sounds good- we are on skype right now if ya wanna join in...

http://www.talkingreef.com/index.php?page=chat

[Cyclura]

sorry i missed the chat last night, anyways, this morning i woke up to a winter wonderland in my tank. Everything was blanketed in a layer of sand/dust particles. My worry is...that i have buried about all of my biggest base pieces of live rock this means that the LR is sitting on the first layer of sand and the new sand was filled up over that layer, thus burying the two biggest pieces almost completely. ...will anything negative become of that? I had to stirr up everything again by scraping the dust off the glass and fanning the rocks with my hand to try and dislodge some of the dust into the filter. Otherwise i think if this sand doesnt settle, im gonna have to take some out because it looks like a bit too deep of a sand bed.

[Stevej72]

The sand will compact over time. If it were my tank I would lift the LR and push the sand under it. By burying the LR it wont be able to filter the water as it should.

[doctorthompson]

i have buried about all of my biggest base pieces of live rock this means that the LR is sitting on the first layer of sand and the new sand was filled up over that layer, thus burying the two biggest pieces almost completely. ...will anything negative become of that? I had to stirr up everything again by scraping the dust off the glass and fanning the rocks with my hand to try and dislodge some of the dust into the filter. Otherwise i think if this sand doesnt settle, im gonna have to take some out because it looks like a bit too deep of a sand bed.


Check out Amp's tank thread and check out the PVC supports, they're a cheap and easy to prop up your live rock.

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7390&postcount=17

[wildeone]

I agree, I would try to get as much of my LR exposed as I could. Right nowm the slighest movement will kick up a cloud, but as time goes on you will sell less and less size to those clouds as the sand compacts.

If you don't already have one go to the store and get a turkey baster. They are your best friend for keeping the rocks cleaned off!

[doctorthompson]

If you don't already have one go to the store and get a turkey baster. They are your best friend for keeping the rocks cleaned off!

Get more than one, in fact, get one of each size/shape they have. Very useful tool!

[Cyclura]

yes i have a spot feeder type thing that works just as well as a turkey baster, ive been using it to clean the rocks, but i guess i have a lot of work ahead of me. i dont have the slightest clue how i am going to lift the rocks without them toppling all to heck and me getting frustrated because i cant get them situated back the way they were again. (i speak from experience on this one) any tips?

[doctorthompson]

i dont have the slightest clue how i am going to lift the rocks without them toppling all to heck and me getting frustrated because i cant get them situated back the way they were again. (i speak from experience on this one) any tips?


You probably WON'T get them back the way they were -- but if you spend a few minutes planning out how to stack them before jumping in you'll minimize the frustration level (also speaking from experience).

Also, when you do your next water change use an airline tube so you'll get a very slow siphon and can suck up some of the silt and crap off the rocks. I did this when we re-aquascaped our tank and it worked great. I used a rubber band to attach the end of the airline tubing to a plastic stick off an old cat toy, and cut the siphon end at an angle to get into more nooks and crannies.

[Stevej72]

You probably WON'T get them back the way they were -- but if you spend a few minutes planning out how to stack them before jumping in you'll minimize the frustration level (also speaking from experience).

Also, when you do your next water change use an airline tube so you'll get a very slow siphon and can suck up some of the silt and crap off the rocks. I did this when we re-aquascaped our tank and it worked great. I used a rubber band to attach the end of the airline tubing to a plastic stick off an old cat toy, and cut the siphon end at an angle to get into more nooks and crannies.

Great tip

[Cyclura]

Thanks for the tip....well all is done and i think i like the new aquascape even better than the last. Pics to come tomorrow as soon as the dust settles.