sand for freshwater tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
so i broke down and got the lfs carib sea sand, they only had two bags of the brown color i liked, so i got some black to go with it and mix it.. washed it all in a bucket, each bag separate first, a few times, before adding to tank.. tank is filling up right now.. and im pretty sure the black bags claim of "no artifical dyes" means they put more powerful natural dyes in cuz it stained the plastic bucket and is doin a number on the water .. /Sigh. we'll see how well it settles
 
i wonder if the black sand is literally dying the water right before my eyes.. laame shouldve gone with the white bags with the brown.. another lesson
 
It looks pretty dark, might want to drain it and refil. I've seen people put down a plate so the water hits that and doesn't disturb the sand so much on filling. It might not be dye and just black dust, same as a white cloudy tank when filling with white sand.
 
yea, im thinking i need to drain and refill as well. its clearing up hour by hour, but idk how much it will.. how do they use the plate? brace it against the side of the tank and hit the water off of it?
 
upside down flat on the sand. Water hits plate and calmy flows on the sand, i've seen some put a cup in the middle and stick the hose in the cup then that flows to the palt then to the sand.

Anything to not stir up the sand
 
the plate really helped! thx so much. Its looking much clearer, but still a bit cloudy. I think one more w/c would do it :) and I love the way the sand looks.
 
That's not too bad, what kind of filter do you have? throw a fine poly pad or some filter floss for a day or two and throw it out after it pulls the fine stuff out plus it will settle a bit.
 
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