cloudy water from crushed shells

[cacichilds]

about 4 days ago, I added crushed shells to my tank for some texture and substance to my black sand substrate. It said pre washed, minimal rinsing required. I rinsed this stuff like 8 times over and my water still is relatively cloudy. I realized my pre filter sponge wasn't helping so I removed it, and have done 25% water changes daily to work out the cloudyness. It isn't helping enough. Any ideas?

It doesn't seem to be affecting my fish at all. ( a good thing) but it really is just un attractive for viewing the tank. it almost looks like a milky, dust type of sediment. I would love some tricks of the trade if anyone has some.

*** Its a 90g tank with 2(fluval C4's) and a 305 canister on it. I would have thunk that rate of turn-over, roughly 9x turn over rate (830 gph), that this would have cleared up already My other thought was to slow the flow down, to let it settle better?? ***

Thanks folks.

 

[duanes]

It takes a while with aragonite or crushed shells, your water is probably more milky than the normal dust from regular gravel right?
It is the (bi)carbonate in the shells that is dissolving and going into solution. This is a much slower process than simply settling. It is actually doing a good thing, because it is giving your water "buffering capacity", it may take a week or more, you just need to be patient.

 

[cacichilds]

very informative thanks a bunch!