Question: New sand in tank, water cloudy.

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SneakyBeast420

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I put sand in today and of course the water is cloudy. It's been about 5 hours and all the big stuff has settled but it's still quite cloudy. I put my axie in, but I'm concerned that the unsettled sand will irritate him. Should I take him out and put him back in the other container, or will he be fine with the cloudiness?
 
He should be ok. It might take a little while for it all to settle. Did you wash the sand really well?? As in wash it until your arm falls off.
 
Well, the sand I got was prewashed and the axie guy at my pet store (very knowledgeable) said that I wouldn't need to, it would just be pretty cloudy. It's settled much faster than I had thought, actually. I believe it's some kind of crushed coral super fine sand, so I'm not surprised that it's taking awhile, I just don't wanna hurt my lil buddy!
 
um...... Im not sure coral sand is ok for your axie tank....sorry..please double check that it is ok. It sounds like it should be for a salt water tank.......I use normal everyday childrens play sand.....half the price and looks just as good. I found the prewashed stuff was better, you only had to lose 1 arm not both;).
 
I had the same concern and they said it wouldn't be a big deal, it doesn't have calcium carbonate in it and wouldn't affect the pH terribly. I'm gonna keep a close eye on it though, we'll see what happens! I might put him back in the container and go back tomorrow and get a pH test kit or something. Now I'm worried! D:
 
I dont mean to worry you. I could be wrong and getting it mixed up with the calcium one..... but it is better to be safe that sorry. Someone with more knowledge will be on soon Im sure, they will know for sure.
 
No worries, I appreciate any input I get! Although I've had a reasonable amount of experience with reptiles, I'm clueless as far as these guys go. I think I'm going to go ahead and get a different kind of sand just to be safe. I'd rather just siphon this out and get something I know is going to be okay than risk hurting my axie. Plus I could get something colorful, too! :D

If anyone has suggestions as to specific sands and/or where to get them, I'm all ears!
 
Ive never had cloudy water issues with new sand, Maybe im lucky, but i stick a portion of sand in a bucket rinse it through about 4 times, then i fill it let the sand settle
poor the cloudyness out and repeat about 6 - 7 times, then i dunk it in the tank :p

Always go for play sand, they seem to be really clean as there supposed to be relativley safe for kids as chances are they like to eat it. :D
 
Anything 'crushed coral' is definitely calcium carbonate.

Or if you listen to the guys at my local fish store, it's made of "calciumite". That one made me literally snort out loud. This is why I never trust anyone at the pet shop. It doesn't matter how reputable they seem. I take everything they say with a grain of salt (of course, to their face, I'm all "oh yeah?! that sounds wonderful!"), and then go home and research the dickens out of everything. And then I make purchases.
 
I'm so glad I took him out of there then! I feel like I dodged a bullet with that! That's pretty funny to me, because the guy literally told me "anything with calcium carbonate is bad" immediately followed with "you shouldn't have a problem with this stuff." It looks like I'm going to Hobby Lobby and getting me some play sand... And washwashwashing the tar out of it! Thank you for all the comments guys, you've been a big help! I'm going to siphon all of the sand out now and get him back in his bare bottomed tank with brand new water until I can get new sand (as I spent my last 13 freaking dollars on this coral ****.)
 
I could be wrong, but I don't thin sand DOES syphon?? I've never had any luck with it..??
 
SneakyBeast420 said:
I'm so glad I took him out of there then! I feel like I dodged a bullet with that! That's pretty funny to me, because the guy literally told me "anything with calcium carbonate is bad" immediately followed with "you shouldn't have a problem with this stuff." It looks like I'm going to Hobby Lobby and getting me some play sand... And washwashwashing the tar out of it! Thank you for all the comments guys, you've been a big help! I'm going to siphon all of the sand out now and get him back in his bare bottomed tank with brand new water until I can get new sand (as I spent my last 13 freaking dollars on this coral ****.)
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Don't feel bad, I did the same just this past w/end :( I saw "live sand" and though it was great. It said great for cycling and no mention of coral in it BUT then I guess I didn't know as much as I thought because it DOES have it in it apparently (a different word I can't think of right now) but thankfully I don't have my axie yet. I couldn't figure out why my pH was rising (8.1 was the last test) and that's when I researched a bit more, and then found out about the sand. Now I have normal sand and I also got some buffer thing. The dude at the LFS said it should work fine BUT even if it doesn't my tap water pH is 7.9 which i was told though high, isn't the worst thing to happen so I'll monitor everything during the cycle and see what happens. having no axolotl yet I have oodles of time to perfect it.
 
A good amount siphoned out, I really just siphoned to get most of the water out before I took the tank out back and hosed 'er out. Thank goodness my little guy is back in his home, bare bottomed as it may be until I can afford the RIGHT sand next week. I took the coral sand back and made sure they knew not to try to sell it to axie owners or use it on their own. Wish I had gotten cash to get sand today as opposed to store credit, but I get rats for my snake there too. I guess I just prepaid a few weeks haha.
 
ERGH it is certainly no secret how I feel about pet shop advice - and this is a prime example. They will happily kill your animals to make a few cheep £/$s


CAN I GO RIP OFF THEIR FACE SKIN NOW?

Glad you can use the store credit, only ever use 'aquarium' sand - there's been so many horror stories thanks to misinformation and calcium based sand. I'm proud of you for trying to educate the store instead of having a rant at them :3 you're a big person :)


Thin sand siphons better than larger sand (the pieces are heavier) Never take pet shop worker's word for it - I once had someone trying to sell me a heat mat and a bulb for my supposedly terrestrial Cynops Orientalis I laughed in their face, and left.

Usually cloudy water is from dust - and it happens with most people when they first start to use sand, it can damage your axolotls, so just make sure you wash your (appropriate) sand for several hours :)

Happy axolotling XD
 
So I got some black Tahitian Moon Sand today, and boy does he love his new home! I rinsed the tar out of that stuff, threw in an old pot and some brightly colored fake plants that glow under blacklight just like he does, and a little submarine buddy. He's been exploring everything! And he looks quite fine on the black colored sand. Thanks to everyone for your advice, I've been so worried that I was going to end up killing this poor little guy, but instead he's as happy as ever! :)

Photo_2AA48C4D-BA1B-1E06-D823-F44959F906A6.jpg
 
Silca sand :) - it's pretty much the same as glass. Nice and safe.

We all go through a point where we panic and think OMG OMG I ARE KILLINGZ!

Glows under black light? he's a GP then? that's pretty cool - I find most fake plants glow under black lights. I'd love to get hold of a GFP. I think coloured sand is pretty cool, got some white sand myself - was hoping to have some sort of sci-fi out of space thing going on - but it's headed down the natural route now. Yeah it's odd they do seem to like when things get moved about and changed, seems to make them curious.

Glad your little guy is ok ^^
 
Haha, yeah. I feel silly, really but knowing that I'm doing everything right is nice. I need to figure out the best method to give him bloodworms without them getting EVERYWHERE in the tank. I had to pick 'em out of the orange furry plant. :( Aside from the minor concerns, he's a happy little lotl.

The pet store near my house has a plethora of different kinds, and most of their albinos and leucistics are GFP. I had to stop myself from buying him a buddy today haha! I feel like I'm pretty lucky, he's super cute and seems very patient with me. He was the little 'tard baby of the bunch that wasn't growing and was kinda gimpy to being a happy, pink gilled little beast. :)
 
I'm partial to buying the 'runts' aswell XD can't help myself.

The best way to control food waste in tanks I find is just use a jar to feed them in - tweezer feeding with bloodworms is messy too. I find the best sized jar for juvies - small adults is the ones that cockles/muscles come in (chip shop style) they have a really large opening and they're not too deep. pop the jar with the bloodworm inside into the tank (being careful not to let any escape, and the axies should find it.

it's of course easier with frozen bloodworm, but I find in the jars the live ones don't move too much anyway.
 
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