Hi I am new to this forum. First off my name is Noelle and I have a BP currently in a quarantine tank getting better from a case of ick. I decided while she was getting better to do some remodeling in her tank. I switched from gravel to sand last night using about four 5lb bags of silica sand for a 30gal tank. When doing this I shut down my tank completely having my filters off. When I was done with this project I knew the water was going to be cloudy but thought that maybe by the morning it would be pretty normal. I didnt put the filter back on ever since putting the sand in the tank. I was wondering if any others experienced this and if so how long did it take for the clouds of sand in the water to be gone. Also since its just cloudy and not clumps of sand could I put the filters back on?
Here is a picture of what it looks like 
Thanks so much
Noelle
Comments
Re: How Do I Get Rid Of The Sand Storm In My Tank ??
Yeah I didn't wash it since I asked the privately owned petstore of mine that question and he said no need to. Which I thought was to good to be true. I guess I'm a sucker. Anywho yeah I also had gravel and then read on a couple of sites that BP like soft substrate and since I my self was looking for a change and read that they (BP) like that I thought i'd give it a try. I will wait it out since I spent good money on that sand err. I think I will try the filter today ( cross fingers ) nothing goes wrong. I was thinking about using a sponge for the filter system for now but ehhh blah. Thanks for your response I hope more opinions come on before I turn this tank on :). If it does help I'll post some pictures. Though it hit one day last night at 9 pm so maybe all I need is patience.
Thanks again
Noelle
Hi Noelle, Welcome to the
Hi Noelle,
Welcome to the site.
When I first started one of my tanks a few years ago, I thought sand would be a great choice. Like you, I had the cloudy water. Did you rinse the sand off first before putting it into your tank? If not, that would help. I would run the filters. Hopefully, the tiny particles are big enough for the filters to catch them. When you vaccuum the sand you have to make sure to not touch the nozzle to the sand. Just run it above the surface of the sand to pick up the debris. Otherwise, the siphon will suck up your sand and you'll have the same problem again. When you are doing your water change you have to be careful as well. Adding the water can stir the bottom up again.
I didn't keep the sand for very long at all. I quickly switched to gravel. I can't remember how long it actually took for the couldy water to go away. I don't think I had the patience to wait for it to settle down completely.
We'll have to see what others on the blog say. But, it's my opinion that BP's like gravel. Mine are always picking the gravel up and spitting it back out in a different place in the tank. They are always rearranging the gravel and digging in it. They seem to enjoy it.
Best of luck with your tank and fish:)