I gotta start over again!

[nsousa]

As the title states I gotta start over again. I just started my tank last week its a RSM 130D, im using dry rock and some dry CaribSea aragonite. So here is my issue, I really believe I got a bad batch of aragonite reason I say that is I had my tank running with just rock, sand and salk water, I added some floss to help clear the water and thats were my issue started... my water never cleared up its been a week, I change 2 peices of floss every other day and still nothing yesterday my water still looked really bad. I never added the shrimp because the water never cleared so Im pretty sure its not a bacterial bloom. Yesterday morning I decided to dunk my hand in the tank and stir the substrate a bit and I couldnt believe my eyes it seemed like milk pouring from the substrate into the water. I very new to the hobby but Ive done this before and never had this issue which is why I believe I got a bad batch of aragonite. Ive always used live sand before so this is my first try with dry aragonite and it blows. On the bag it said its not necessary to rinse but I did anyways so I dont understand why it would be so bad. I took apart the tank last night and removed the aragonite to try and rinse it more. You would not believe how much crap was in the first few pails of water. it was so bad I decided I dont want to use that aragonite that I had. Im going to head out to the LFS tomorrow (big als) and see what else they have. In the mean time what are you guys using for substrate?

 

pics of the tank empty again

 

rock drying again.

empty waiting for ro/di water

[Rollermonkey]

Stop stirring the sand.

 

Slow down.

 

Let the equipment do the work.

[ZX6Reefer]

Wow, that really sucks. For the 5g I just set up last week I used the aragonite they had in a large bin at my LFS. I'm not sure of the brand since they buy it in bulk, but it looks just like the CaribSea stuff. I didn't rinse it at all and the dust settled over-night. Over at my folk's place they're using an Oolite type sugar sized sand and while it looks great, it blows all over the place if the powerheads aren't placed just right. Maybe you did just get a bad batch. Hopefully the second time's the charm.

[eddiecorrea]

I use black sand in my tanks. Always looks clean and makes the corals pop. Only real issue with it is that it is magnetic.

[nsousa]

Stop stirring the sand.

 

Slow down.

 

Let the equipment do the work.

I didnt stir the sand, nor am I in a rush. Only a full week after with no one touching the tank did I touch the substrate. I was pretty bad and Im glad I took it out because it was really nasty and I wouldnt want that in my tank. although Im new to the hobby Ive seen several tanks getting put together and I ve never seen substrate so dirty even after a light rinsing.

 

 

 

I use black sand in my tanks. Always looks clean and makes the corals pop. Only real issue with it is that it is magnetic.

 

What kind of black sand did you use? do you have pictures? whats the issue with it being magnetic