ok i have 50 lbs of sand for my 55 gallon its marine sand by estes but my concern is what do i do when i put it in will it cloud and what bout my filters do i need to unplug them for a while i have a penguin 350 and a cascade 1000 canister ??
sand whoas
- Thread starter aquaman5000
- Start date
It is not that bad. I have switched all my tanks over to sand. Rinse well, if you are in doubt, rinse more. If you are overly worried about it try it out on a inhabitant free tank to see if it clouds the water.
Follow what dragonfly said.
Follow what dragonfly said.
Dragonflyx2;2578486; said:
Keep both inlets a 4-6" away from the sand. The canister filter wont be harmed if sand gets into it, it sucks water when its clean and the sand will just sit in the bottom. Been there done that.
rinse the sand.. then rinse it again... turn your filters off.. use a bowl to scoop the sand into the tank.. dont dump the sand out of the bowl over the tank.. put the bowl full of sand in the tank and then dump it... let it settle for 15-20 minutes till all of the larger particals have had a chance to settle.. then turn your filters back on... be sure to keep your filter media wet so your BB do not die off..
larger grained sand will stay pon the bottom better or will settle faster when it gets in the water column...
Pool Filter Sand is large grained AND is regulated in size to not have small particles. But naturally as it rubs together in shipping some dust will form. Rinse it very thoroughly, then rinse it one more time
Yes I would turn the filters off when adding the sand, but they can be turned on very shortly after...
As opposed to just dumping the sand in from the top, you can use a bowl or pitcher to fill up with sand (outside the tank) then lower it to the bottom of the tank and pour it directly on the bottom. This will decrease the clouding effect.
I've learned to barely be careful not to suck out sand during cleanings. So it's common for me to have to add a little bit of sand to each tank now and then. I've learned to wash very thoroughly and place it in this way and I rarely notice any clouding. But that's only adding 1 gal of sand or so, not the whole 50 lb. I would expect some clouding but nothing bad...
Lastly, be sure all teh grains of sand are settled before turning the filters back on, but the super fine particles that float in the water causing the cloudy look can be sucked into the filter. So to help draw the line... grains of sand damage filters... dust particles don't...
Once the cloudiness is gone check your filter media to see if it needs to be cleaned
Pool Filter Sand is large grained AND is regulated in size to not have small particles. But naturally as it rubs together in shipping some dust will form. Rinse it very thoroughly, then rinse it one more time
Yes I would turn the filters off when adding the sand, but they can be turned on very shortly after...
As opposed to just dumping the sand in from the top, you can use a bowl or pitcher to fill up with sand (outside the tank) then lower it to the bottom of the tank and pour it directly on the bottom. This will decrease the clouding effect.
I've learned to barely be careful not to suck out sand during cleanings. So it's common for me to have to add a little bit of sand to each tank now and then. I've learned to wash very thoroughly and place it in this way and I rarely notice any clouding. But that's only adding 1 gal of sand or so, not the whole 50 lb. I would expect some clouding but nothing bad...
Lastly, be sure all teh grains of sand are settled before turning the filters back on, but the super fine particles that float in the water causing the cloudy look can be sucked into the filter. So to help draw the line... grains of sand damage filters... dust particles don't...
Once the cloudiness is gone check your filter media to see if it needs to be cleaned
yeah can do i just shut down my penguin 350 cause the sand was messing with it the canister is running like a champ its clearing the tank prety good if u ask me