South Down Storm

[gabe3eb]

Last sunday I put 40 lbs of southdown into my 28 gallon. Its brand new and I just added all of the rocks today. But I can't even see the back wall. The sand storm has not only completely clouded the tank, but there is a brownish goo all over the back wall, my powerhead, overflow box and heater. I can literally brush it off, but it just floats around and probably collects elsewhere. This morning I could barely see what looked like the back wall of the tank, but as soon as I added the rock, nothing... This sure seems like a long time for there to be a storm. I would like to be able to see my rock to place it and know if I needed more. Plus it is just freaking me out big time. I will get some carbon to put in the tank tommorow to hopefully collect some matter. Would a Protein Skimmer help the tank as well? Thanks guys,

gaber

[hirm]

what i had to do was turn off the powerhead, use a aquaclear hang on back filter and filled it up with the WHITE foam.. it cleared up the tank in under two days.. but you have to take the foam up every couple of hours and rinse it out and put it back into the filter.... hope this helps you out

 

adam

[NanoReefer53]

hmm...that's strange. Even with my very fine sand it cleared after 1 day. Try running a skimmer, it'll pick up the dust cloud. I think that's how mine cleared so fast. I wouldn't turn off the powerheads though. You need to let the sand settle where it's going to stay permanently. If you turn it off and let it settle, once you turn it on again it'll be another storm.

[quiksilver5768]

I did the same as hirm. I had to turn off my powerhead until it slowly setled. Any excess gunk was pulled out with my Aquaclear 200 HOB filter. Also...did you make sure that you rinsed out the sand before you put it in the tank? Or did you just put it in straight out of the bag....??

 

Oh yea...IMO, i dont think a skimmer would help at all. It wouldnt help to actually pull out visible debris in the water unlike an HOB filter would...

 

(Edited by quiksilver5768 at 9:08 pm on May 19, 2002)

[gabe3eb]

:confused: well quick,,, not exactly. I didn't rinse it. I wouldn't know how to unless I was going to take it outside in the freezing cold or use my moms macaroni strainer pound by pound. Anyways though, the deed is done. I tried turning off the powerheads overnight one night and it didn't make any visible difference. I wonder if the rocks being in the tank will help it at all? I guess I shall get a skimmer? I don't really want to spend too much, any ideas? Thanks guys, please keep the ideas comming, it is frustrating to not be able to see your tank... C-ya,

gaber

[quiksilver5768]

Well that did certaintly cause this whole thing to happen I rinsed my sand out in my laundry room sink. I just put the sand in a bucket and ran water on it and let the water just overflow over the sides of the bucket for like 20 min or until it got clear. Like i said...IMO the skimmer wouldnt do much. An HOB filter would be cheaper and would work better to clear up your tank. Even though its a 28...in the long term you dont even  really need a skimmer. You can use just a bunch of LR, LS, and a decently good HOB filter. I would go with an Aquaclear 300.

[gabe3eb]

Why have I heard such bad things about these HOB filters? Do you take the media out? Do they really collect nitrates or whatever? Thanks for the quick advice though. One more time, give me a pitch as to why I don't need the skimmer in the 28 gallon. :-D thanks quick,

gaber

[mattdog]

Gaber,

 

     Just put the floss in the back of the filter w/o the carbon.  This takes out the bigger particles (such as sand) and doesn't take away from the trace elements.  Just make sure you wash it pretty often because it will start to stink.

[gabe3eb]

Aquaclear 300 or aquaclear 150? And no skimmer? AHHH! After reading hundreds of posts over skimmers, I still dunno...

gaber

[mattdog]

The 150 should suffice as it's suitable for tanks up to 30 gallons.  The 300 is recommended for tanks up to 100 gallons.  

[krusty]

best thing i ever got was a magnum HOT filter, I used the micron cartridge and it cleared my water up in a day... works almost as good as a diatom filter IMO.

[NanoReefer53]

the thing is though....do you want to spend $15 or like $30 at the expensive LFS or just save up money for a skimmer. Being 16, which is close to your age, i would just save up.

[scobri]

used southdown myself....filter fiber/floss in my aquaclear mini...cleared it up in day or so...maybe twice a day put in fresh floss

[Toyfreek]

Hi,

Heres what I think you should do, Syphon all your water out till you just got wet sand left. Place your rock when the tank is empty, Cover the rock and sand with plastic wrapslowley drip water into tank via syphon hose. My mothers nano with 4" of southdown took 4 hours to clear this way.

My tank took 18 hours because I didn't use plastic wrap (Iwas out) so i just driped it over a rock gently. IME it is always easier to add water to rock and sand rather than vice versa.

HTH,

Toy

 

(Edited by Toyfreek at 12:10 am on May 20, 2002)

[gabe3eb]

Thanks guys, 53 were you saying that you think I should save up for a decent skimmer instead of getting an aquaclear now? Also, Toy, that sounds great, but I am very busy after school, doubtful that I will be able to take the time to syphon out 28 gallons and then drip it back in. The good news is that this morning, the tank was looking pretty nice. I could see the front of the rock that I put on the back side and if I looked in through the sides, I could see even more... I will keep ya'll posted,, ,

gaber

p.s. are there going to be any long term effects using unfiltered south down?

[Toyfreek]

Takes like an hour. If you dont have an hour what kind of time do you expect to take up on regular maintenance? I spend several hours a week on my tanks.

Good Luck with your new tank,

Toy

Ps. I would never rinse Southdown Tropical playsand, The fine particles are what yopu need to make up the good muddy stuff at the bottom. That layer is essential to a healthy DSB according to Dr. Ron Shimek.

 

(Edited by Toyfreek at 2:55 pm on May 20, 2002)

[gabe3eb]

Remove all of the water and put the water back in with a drip? Your post said it took 18 hours, but I don't really want my rock to be out of the water for that long for one, and for two, my tank is looking much better today. I might just get that aquaclear 150, but we will see. Thanks for all of the help guys.

gaber

[Toyfreek]

No,

My post said it took 18 hours to clear up sorry if that was confusing.

I have not added sand to water since my first salt tank it was a mess.

All the others I have set up I use dry sand place my rock and syphon in fresh saltwater over plastic wrap to reduce current made by syphon. The flow rate is like a gallon a minute so in your case 28 minutes to fill'er back up. Sorry again if my previous posts were convoluted.

HTH,

Toy

[quiksilver5768]

But really he doesnt need a skimmer 53. Im also 16 and for me it was a lot easier to just get an Aquaclear 200 for my 10. They work well to get out stuff from the water. And really...how would the skimmer help much to get particles and such like an HOB would. All you have to do is put a sponge or some floss in the HOB and it should be cleared up pretty soon. Just make sure your rinse out the sponge or floss every week or so, so that it doesnt become a nitrate factory. The skimmer helps to pull out "gunk" but thats not the case here. Your looking to pull out particles. You can also get by without a skimmer but instead a good amount of LR, LS, and your HOB filter...

[NanoReefer53]

Strange, cuz my skimmer pulled out a thick white cloud after the sand was put in. Cleared after a day and this was unwashed sand. Also, there has been some talk about unwashed Southdown sand. The manufacturer said that when they have the sand in open storage bins, they spray a chemical compound that prevents the sand from blowing away. There's another reason to get a skimmer.

[gabe3eb]

Hey guys, well glad that this has opened up some conversation. Here is where I am right now, my tank is looking better, I can see all of the rock and I stopped by petsmart (after comparing some prices) and got an Aquaclear 150 HOB (rated up to 30 gallons). Right now I only put the carbon in, but should I put the foam thingy in as well? I will make sure I wash it often. Now to add some more comments about the Southdown, I heard from a really knowledgable buddy that Southdown does not spray the sand with bad chemicals. They might say this and they even put not for aquarium use on their bags. Hmm, gee, I wonder why... Look at any big reef message board and southdown is a luxory rarely seen at home depot. People hoard this stuff and sell it for profit. Southdown is going to start comming out with a sand that will most likely cost more and be SPECIAL AQUARIUM sand,and be the exact same. Oh well, this is just what I have heard. Let me know about the medias, thanks,

gaber

[NanoReefer53]

my source http://www.bonsai-reef.com/friends.html#sd

 

Scoll to the bottom of the page.

[jay2k2]

I HAVE AQUA CLEAR 300 cleared my 25 gallon in 45 mins!

that thing is a beast!

[gabe3eb]

Hmm, well sounds like it was true that they used oil, but he also said he didn't rinse his and he has had no probs... the verdict is out, anyone rinse their southdown or not? long term effects?

gaber

[Toyfreek]

I have never rinsed Southdown in any of the prolly 15 reef tanks I have setup. noone has ever reported a problem to me. It does say on the bag Sterilized as all Playsand has to be in accordance with US law. there are very strict restrictions placed on "Play sand" as that is what we build playgrounds with for our children.

On another note The reason Southdown is hard to get in the Aquarium industry is they have a no-compete with Carib-Sea and cant market it as Aquarium suitable. Carib-Sea buys thier sand from The same people that Mine Southdown. I recieved this information when I talked the local Home Depot Manager into ordering it as a stock Item. he mentioned Aquariums and the deal was off and he can't get it again.

HTH,

Toy