Another DSB Question... Will the Sand Storm Ever End???

[aberg12012]

HI

I added 150 lbs of southdown around May 24th to my newly set up 75. Obviously it was a cloudy, foamy mess. I then added a few hand fulls of substrate from the 46 bowfront I currently have set up, and a bunch of live rock rubble. A few days after this, I added the 50 lbs of live rock I had been curing from www.reeferrocks.com.

It is now 2 weeks later, and it still looks like this...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46237Sand_Storm.JPG

I keep trying to clear the sand off of the live rock, and obviously that only makes matters worse. Obviously you can see I've made no attempt to aquascape yet.

Am I doing something wrong? Or dose it normally take at least 2 weeks to see more than 2" into the tank?

Thanks,
Alan

[Danables]

if you want to clear it up fast go grab some cotton stuff your filter i got mine cleared up in a couple of hours. just keep changing the cotton out every hour or so.

[teamcamelot]

Yeah, get some (floss) from your local pet store. It's meant for freshwater, but in this case it works great. We also had clear water in no time using this stuff. It loos like pillow stuffing, usally comes in a bag. White fluffy stuff

[romunov]

Put some cotton at the intake of that powerhead you have there on the right. If there is a container for the powerhead, use that and put cotton in there.

[MCsaxmaster]

I keep trying to clear the sand off of the live rock, and obviously that only makes matters worse.

There's your answer, I think. Just let it alone and it will settle. When I say let it alone I mean literally touch nothing for several days ;)

[aberg12012]

Thanks guys... I'll try the floss, since I have about 10 bags of it under my kitchen sink. LOL (Use it all the time... just didn't think it would help with the sand.)

[aberg12012]

Ok... so the floss worked out actually quite nicely today. Now the water is almost clear. The only cloudiness now is from what sand is stuck to the side of the glass.

So now the big question... after I leave it be for a few days yet... How do I eventually clear the live rock and sides of the tank of the sand, without causing another sand storm???

[MDboyz]

I found that the sand storm get settled better with uncured live rocks. Anyway, turn on your skimmer. It will help too.

[McBeck]

If you have an algae magnet, use it on the glass. As for the rocks, you could try a turkey baster. :)

[romunov]

Disturb it, use floss... Do it untile the rock are clear. :D

[MCsaxmaster]

I would just let things be. Most critters (i.e. the stuff on the rock) have pretty good self cleaning abilities. Continually disturbing things is simply not going to work--been there, done that.

Cheers,

-Chris

[aberg12012]

Well this morning after work (yawn) I decided to remove the live rock into a tub, so that I could rinse off the sand outside the system. For the past two days, since I used the floss... the water had cleared up nicely. But, the simple act of gently lifting the rocks out, caused a compete sand storm again. There was also a big crater that I smoothed over as well, so obviously the sand has been stirred up from that as well.

And...

I give up.

I may just decide to throw both middle fingers at the southdown, and remove it, since I already have the live rock out of the tank, and start all over with just a shallow layer of a more coarse substrate. I'll probably let the tank settle for a couple more weeks (again) untill the water is clear, siphon out the water so I can save it... and remove all traces of the darn southdown.

Sorry, but the whole DSB thing using Southdown seems rediculous to me... I honestly don't beleive that after time, the sand will no longer get kicked up like this. I have this feeling, that no matter what, every time I get with in 6" of the sand bed with the algae magnet, I'll have a sand storm for 3 days. Every time I want to pick up a rock... 3 days. Any time I do anything... It's going to be a friggin' sand storm.

No offense to anyone, but seems to me the whole Southdown uproar is FAR overrated. I can't beleive this method is so popular, considering what messy joke it is. I would have really thought, after 3 weeks with live rock, a bunch of established sand from another tank, and lots of reef rubble, that the "storm season" would be over. I get the impression it never ends... Unless of coarse you never do ANYTHING to disturb the tank.

[romunov]

Hehe, Rome was not created in a day. Why don't you just leave everything? Stuff will eventually settle, or you can filter it out with floss and such...

Go listen to "Guns 'n' Roses - PATIENCE". :P

[aberg12012]

WHO SAID I HAVE PATIENCE!!!!!!! :D LOLOL

Well I slept for a few hours, and I see the sand storm is ALMOST settled already, so it didn't take 3 days...

The thing that gets me... is yea, I'll leave everything if I know that eventually the sand won't be kicked up every time I swipe the magnet across the glass, causing a storm for several hours, during which I can't even see 2" into the tank. But I guess I am quite concerned, that with how fine this sand is, it's always going to be a sand storm even a year from now, when ever I put a finger in the tank.

[MDboyz]

It will be settled...
I have 5" DSB southdown in my tank. I was ****ed at it before just like you ... :)

[aberg12012]

Yea... but what happens if you scrape down the the sand bed with the magnet? Dosn't this still stir it up? Or does it really get weighted down enough to keep it from becomming suspended every time you get too close to it?

[aberg12012]

Ok, so back from work again this morning... and the water was clear, so I put the rock back in, and made a sad attempt to arrange them. Or coarse it's a mild sand storm again... hopefully not as much sand will coat the rock this time. And I promise, after this, it's gunna be left alone for a while now! :D Untill things start maturing, and I decide to finally start moving over the rock and corals from my 46!

[MDboyz]

As for the sand settles on the rocks, don't take them out. Use a small power head to blow em out. My sand is pretty much settled, so there is no sand storm when accidently scrape the sand bed. It only blows the sand up alittle bit, but it will settle quickly. As I was saying, the more bacteria from the sand transfering to your sand, they will help to weight down the sand.