Southdown Woes.

Hi all. I am setting up a 90 reef and have added a bag and a half of Southdown
sand but now my water looks more like skim milk. I rinsed it lightly before
adding but that was no use. Any suggestions for getting the water to clear up
quickly? Is the cloudiness just due to the calcium the sand puts in the water
or is it particulates causing this? Can I diatom filter it clear or do I just
have to wait for it to settle out? Would it be best not to run any pumps or
filters if it needs to settle?

TIA -M333

"Mandarin333" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I am setting up a 90 reef and have added a bag and a half of
Southdown
sand but now my water looks more like skim milk. I rinsed it lightly
before
adding but that was no use. Any suggestions for getting the water to
clear up
quickly? Is the cloudiness just due to the calcium the sand puts in the
water
or is it particulates causing this? Can I diatom filter it clear or do I
just
have to wait for it to settle out? Would it be best not to run any pumps
or
filters if it needs to settle?

TIA -M333

Eh, I don't think there's a way to make it settle QUICKLY.

I noticed that skimming actually cleared it up the fastest. Assuming you
have a sump and a main pump and skimmer, run the main pump and skimmer, and
clean and empty the skimmer often...the total mass of all the gunk in the
water is actually pretty low.

just give it a little time... running pumps will be ok

Mandarin333 wrote:
Hi all. I am setting up a 90 reef and have added a bag and a half of Southdown
sand but now my water looks more like skim milk. I rinsed it lightly before
adding but that was no use. Any suggestions for getting the water to clear up
quickly? Is the cloudiness just due to the calcium the sand puts in the water
or is it particulates causing this? Can I diatom filter it clear or do I just
have to wait for it to settle out? Would it be best not to run any pumps or
filters if it needs to settle?

TIA -M333

--
John N. Gretchen III
Port O'Connor TX
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

I ran my mag H.O.T. micron overnight and it cleared up within hours.

--

--
billy
"Mandarin333" wrote in message
...
| Hi all. I am setting up a 90 reef and have added a bag and a half
of Southdown
| sand but now my water looks more like skim milk. I rinsed it
lightly before
| adding but that was no use. Any suggestions for getting the water
to clear up
| quickly? Is the cloudiness just due to the calcium the sand puts
in the water
| or is it particulates causing this? Can I diatom filter it clear
or do I just
| have to wait for it to settle out? Would it be best not to run any
pumps or
| filters if it needs to settle?
|
| TIA -M333

Subject: Southdown Woes.
From: "Dinky"
Date: 5/29/04 4:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:

I ran my mag H.O.T. micron overnight and it cleared up within hours.

With or without DE?

-M333

"Mandarin333" wrote in message
...
|
| With or without DE?
|
| -M333

Without. According to Marineland, the Micron cartridge works almost
as well without the powder as with, and you avoid the possibility of
a mess.

Subject: Southdown Woes.
From: "Dinky"
Date: 5/29/04 6:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id:



"Mandarin333" wrote in message
...
|
| With or without DE?
|
| -M333

Without. According to Marineland, the Micron cartridge works almost
as well without the powder as with, and you avoid the possibility of
a mess.


Actually, it worked far better with the DE after I borrowed a friend's Vortex
DE filter. It took about four rechargings since there was so much silt in the
southdown. I was fit to be tied when I started pulling LR out to restack and
the crystal clear tank turned into skim milk again so I had to wait another two
hours to get enough clarity to put it back and still it was a sloppy job but
that's what vacations are for...restacking your live rock. I was chatting
with a gal who said that all that silt in southdown is actually DE. I was
thinking this also because it looks EXACTLY like DE. Any thoughts anyone?

-M333

If you filled with salt and water then you have to wait it out if you want
to save your salt, water movement does help it settle.

If you only have fresh water so far, drain it and refill it.

"Mandarin333" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I am setting up a 90 reef and have added a bag and a half of
Southdown
sand but now my water looks more like skim milk. I rinsed it lightly
before
adding but that was no use. Any suggestions for getting the water to
clear up
quickly? Is the cloudiness just due to the calcium the sand puts in the
water
or is it particulates causing this? Can I diatom filter it clear or do I
just
have to wait for it to settle out? Would it be best not to run any pumps
or
filters if it needs to settle?

TIA -M333

Personally, I would rather wait than have dust running through my pumps.


"skozzy" wrote in message
...
If you filled with salt and water then you have to wait it out if you want
to save your salt, water movement does help it settle.

If you only have fresh water so far, drain it and refill it.

"Mandarin333" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I am setting up a 90 reef and have added a bag and a half of
Southdown
sand but now my water looks more like skim milk. I rinsed it lightly
before
adding but that was no use. Any suggestions for getting the water to
clear up
quickly? Is the cloudiness just due to the calcium the sand puts in the
water
or is it particulates causing this? Can I diatom filter it clear or do
I
just
have to wait for it to settle out? Would it be best not to run any
pumps
or
filters if it needs to settle?

TIA -M333