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Old 31-05-2003, 03:44 AM
JEB
 
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Default Onyx Sand Cloudiness



David Wee wrote:
I finally got around to replacing my cheap coated gravel substrate with
Onyx Sand, in my 10 gallon. Im using an AquaClear 150 mini.. I rinsed off
the sand in a bucket for about 30 times (alot of water), and after a
certain point, I just felt, well, no matter how many times I rinse this
stuff, there is always going to be a cloud, so I just put it into my
aqaurium and filled up the water.

Now the "slight initial cloudiness" (as predicted by the bag) is not so
slight, nor is it not so initial..

The cloudiness is really starting to bother me. My aquaClear sponge is
seemingly much too porous to grab up ultra micorscopic silt, and im
wondering at this point, should i just put in my powerhead filter to
really help ? Whats the deal with the cloudiness? I just dont see the
small aqua clear sponge trapping all that cloud.

Help wanted.


I got a paint strainer bag at Lowe's to clean the flourite and Onyx sand
for my first planted tank. The tank has bottom 2 inches of Flourite
regular mixed with a little less than 50% same size natural quartz
gravel. The top 2+ inches are one bag of Onyx sand mixed with a 5 lb.
bag of black Estes gravel about the size of Flourite and a couple of
handfuls of moon sand. I used the paint strainer bag (which is a fine
mesh that looks similar to a curtain sheer) to wash all this stuff. It
worked great, took very little time. Put about 5 lbs. of whatever in
the bag, lowered it into a 5 gal. bucket and stuck one hand in and
swished/stirred for 5-10 minutes. Drained, ran the spigot into the bag
for about a minute while swishing, and done. The fines from the Onyx
were shocking. Gray mud! Anyway, very little cloudiness in my tank,
and what was there went away in about 2 days. Only real annoyance is
that the silt likes to stick to the glass, where it's really noticeable.
I would recommend this method, even though the tank isn't planted yet.
Digging around does raise the silt, but not so badly as some have
described.

James