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so i just got some live sand the other day from a guy who was breaking down his tank..i washed the sand as best as i could..however it seems that it wasnt enough...i put my liverock and baserock into the tank first, and then added the sand ..however it instantly clouded my tank...i turned on my filter and ran it with only some prefilter...then this morning i checked it..it had cleared up some, and what i think is detritus had settled in a very thin layer above the sand.... so i vac'd it up as much as i could with a 10% water change, however i couldnt get to most of it because of the large amount of live/base rock i have in the tank...so after the water change i washed out the prefilter, and added some carbon...and now comes my question...
what do i do next?
the water is still cloudy...should i wait a couple days for it all to settle?
or should i keep doing water changes...and if so, how often....or should i just let it all stay in the tank?
i have no idea really what to do, so any information u could offer me is very appreciated...thanks in advance,
-sean

ak!
don't wash live sand!

not with freshwater I hope! You will kill it !

no, just wait, it will clear...
you might need to use a filter pad for a while

what about the small layer of detritus? will this be a problem?

you can vacuum it off
filter it out
or just leave it

what would be the best option?
and im new to the saltwater so if u could give me as much detail as possible on how to go about it

and i did wash the live sand with fresh water...i was told this was ok to get rid of the detritus and that it will grow back...is this true
thanks ned...i really appreciate ur help

ooo! and i have another whole 5 gallon bucket full of live sand and saltwater that i havent washed, however has sat out all night...is this still alive? and should i add some of it to the tank? how much? and when?(while my water is still cloudy? or when the water settles?)

5 gallon bucket full of live sand and saltwater that i havent washed, however has sat out all night...is this still alive?

How does it smell?

doesnt smell....but if u get up close to it its got a bit of an smell..kinda like the ocean..knda bad...same thing with the tank...my room doesnt smell...but if u get up reeeeaaaally close to the sump u can smell it..

and as far as the sand...i know that the sand will settle eventually...the thing i am worried about is the detritus...this sand came from an already established tank, so its got a lot of waste that has been stirred up when i added it to my tank..so whats happening is the sand is settling ...then a thin grey layer of detritus is forming on top of the sand and on top of the live and dead rock
once the tank cycles...will this be broken down or something?
or is it always going to be in my tank...and everytime i move a rock or something it will create a cloudy water...cause this could be a problem later down the road when i start adding fish, right?
thanks

er

whatever you do
don't put any expensive fish or inverts in there

keep testing for ammonia and nitrite

I think your going to need a complete water change

the detritus IS the good bacteria (or was)

(you know,
if you just buy eveything from us...
you don't really have these problems)

haha yea im guess im learning that the hard way...yea i dont plan on putting fish or inverts in it for a while...i just set up the tank...so it still needs to cycle.
do u have any other advice?

if you already had live live rock
and
live live sand
it wouldn't have been an issue
if everything's cycled
just put stuff in

also it's always a good precaution
to use a chemical filter
in case of copper contamination