Sand troubles

[vanessa]

hey everyone, ive never used sand in my aquariums before and now i am. i got some sand from an aquarium shop and it was called natural sand. i washed it several times and then put it in the tank and filled it up. even though i washed it it made the tank go really cloudy and that was yesterday. today the water is still really cloudy but not as bad as yesterday cause i can look through the end of the tank and see stuff on the other side. i was wondering is this normal? and will the cloudyness go away. also how do i know if the sand is too sharp for axies feet?
i have another new tank which im also going to be putting sand in and i also brought this stuff that is white and its called aragonite and on the label it says crushed marble great 4 cichlid and marine tanks 4 grades avalible. i got the one with the finest grains so it the same consistancy as sand each grain is about a mm thick or less. would that be okay for my axies?
thanks

 

[stipe]

Aragonite is a minalral it is used in aquariums as nitrate reducing beds. The pore water space created by percision grading also allows maximum pH support and dissolution of calcium carbonate.
In other words its a good substrate with fish, not sure about axies but i use it and have no problem with it.

THe cloudyness is normal it'll take a couple of days to go away. May i suggest that when it settles make sure nothing is in the tank but the substrate then get a gravel cleaner and do a last time cleanup before anthing goes in for cycling.

Hope i helped

, Stipe.

 

[sharn]

yep and do lots of water changes if it really bothers you

 

[charlotte]

it will take a couple of days for all the dust particles to get to the bottom but if you want to hurry it up then do what the others said.

far stipe, you know alot about aragonite. i suppose you should if you use it.

 

[stipe]

Lol, i did a study on aquarium substrates for school.

 

[vanessa]

thanks everyone the tanks pretty clear now. does that mean that its safe to use aragonite?

 

[andrew]

I don't know quite what aragonite it, but if its designed for chiclids then i wouldn't think so.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong but don't chiclids like high PH waters, 8+ or something. I would say that aragonite substrate is designed to help create/boost these high PH levels much like crushed coral.

Crushed coral is also recommended for Chiclids and marine tanks and that would not be suitable for a substrate even if it were ground up that fine.

You are probably better of asking the place you buy it from exactly what it would do to the PH. Axie like a maximum PH of 8.

 

[jennifer]

I would say that crushed coral or aragonite would be beneficial if someone has soft or medium tap water, particularly if they find their pH dropping over time (which often happens in long-term aquariums). Given normal water changes, the pH is unlikely to go over 8. For someone like me whose tap water is pH 8 to begin with, these substrates are probably a bad idea!