Photo Gallery :: Beware!!! Lots of pics! Sand Fiasco!!!! :(

[The Beast]

I am sooo sorry for your fiasco (on top of the fact you're still healing up).

I really don't know what to so say, since i used the same product, but got entirely different results.

My original process was...
1) Water already existing in the tank
2) Added one bag of sand at a time (added only two bags..at first. There are FOUR TOTAL bags in my tank now)

** I didn't pre-wash or pre-rinse the sand in any way. I litterally cut a small hole in the bag and proceeded to step 3**

3) Poured slowly into the tank
4) Water clouded slightly to a haze
5) Haze completely went away in a day or so.

My thoughts about what happened in your experience was maybe...
1) Too much sand was added at once, thus saturating the water with whatever minerals or particles were present in the sand.
2) When adding that much water to that much sand it might have over-agitated it and caused that extreme murkiness.

It may or may not have anything to do with filtration as everyone seems to be using hi-end canister filters (like the XP3) with standard carbon or ammonia/carbon mixtures along with bio balls or other filtration media.

I can't say whether or not my filtration had an adverse effect on the clearing of the water, but I know it's been doing it's job since I got it.

I have my laptop with me, so if you guys have any other questions about what I did/or didn't do, I will be able to respond pretty quickly.

[Hoooneylynn]

Beast, it is not your fault at all, dont apologize! I was mad, but definetely not at you! I just wanted to show everyone, so if they want to do it, they can do it correctly and avoid another sand fiasco!

[The Beast]

Beast, it is not your fault at all, dont apologize! I was mad, but definetely not at you! I just wanted to show everyone, so if they want to do it, they can do it correctly and avoid another sand fiasco!

I know I knew you weren't blaming me Hoooney, I just was trying to figure out how on earth that happened to your water! haha. Maybe you can let the sand dry out and try it again.......if you're feeling up to it

[Hoooneylynn]

I think I'm going to use it when she lays eggs... I saw one site had this nice set up that had a water area and sand area for laying eggs.. I want to keep it for probably that reason only.. I think since its natural, it would be a good substrate for that.. Im not feeling up to it now I have a 20 gallon tank at my aunts house, maybe ill try to do something with that, as far as building an egg laying paradise!

[SpotsMama]

Jessica! What a time you've had! I hope you didn't pull any stiches!

Please sit back and relax now. Your tank is BEAUTIFUL. Your turtle is BEAUTIFUL and looks happy too! I should hire you as a tank designer.

[The Beast]

ill try to do something with that, as far as building an egg laying paradise!

Now THAT sounds intriguing. I don't blame you for not wanted to attempt that again. Going through all that would more than discourage me from taking a stab at "round 2" The sand is not the devil! I promise!

[Hoooneylynn]

Thanks Spots Mamma! Have you seen grey goose's post? Now he should be a tank designer! Well my aunt lives in mesquite Texas..maybe I should visit you when I visit her sometime lol beast... sand= 666!

[Muirner]

hoooney - what air pump did you get? I know only the stone goes in there. I'm just trying to figure out what one i might look into getting. I'm thinking about the new Tetra ones, that have the 4 legs... they are supposed to be extra quiet and 15$ on e-bay sweet.

Beast - Thanks for your process. Seems the sand is hit and miss, but i must say, if you do hit it, then it looks great!

Hey hooney, going on the filter idea, how do you have the discharge of your filter set up? Spraying down? or up? hmmm got me.

[The Beast]

hoooney - what air pump did you get? I know only the stone goes in there. I'm just trying to figure out what one i might look into getting. I'm thinking about the new Tetra ones, that have the 4 legs... they are supposed to be extra quiet and 15$ on e-bay sweet.

Just throwing my two cents in here Muirner

I have a Rena 300 air pump (made for tanks up to 75 gallons). It has enough power to link 2 or 3 stones together if you wanted a whole lot of aerating action. It's quiet too. Comes with four tapered post feet made of rubber and is even quieter if you put it on your carpet (or a piece of carpet if you have wood flooring) instead directly on hard surface (i.e. wood, plastic, etc).

Beast - Thanks for your process. Seems the sand is hit and miss, but i must say, if you do hit it, then it looks great!

You're welcome Glad to be part of the information to HOPEFULLY avoid another disaster

[grey goose]

Oh my, when it rains it pours! Your tank and little Mooch look great!
Now get some rest.....
I've got a few problems also...I finally heard back from the adhesive guy, and I didn't like the answers he gave me on my ramps, so I'm in the process of breaking down everything while the kids cool their heels in the isolation tank. I'm going to use a different adhesive with river rock instead of tiles.....even when you think you have planned everything perfectly, sometimes you get tripped up. You just have to get past it and move on.
I love those river rocks! I've been looking all over for that type, and have come up empty.

[Hoooneylynn]

I have Rena 200... I threw away the package of the air stone, but I guess its not called a "stone"... its a strip.. and its not one of those paper ones either.. its solid kinda rock like... My filter sprays down... it sits on the back of the tank...Aqua clear, formerly Aqua Clear 300 I think... the water coming down doesnt hit the bottom and it doesnt stir anything up... the sand was only stirred when I went to smooth it out (after I put the water in, the sand moved into clumps and parts of the bottom were bare) and when I put more water in... goose, those rocks cost me $10... I got ten bags from Dollar Tree! what was wrong with your ramps? they looked great! and they could support a lot of weight.

[Hoooneylynn]

muriner, Im losing it.. for some reason I thought that YOU thought that the pump went into the water... and then the other post I thought marisa said that you CANT feed turts snails.. (sorry again marisa)... this medication makes me feel stoned and confused!!!

[grey goose]

Well, he didn't exactly knock the ramps, but he didn't give it the thumbs up either. He said I was "pushing the envelope" with that layout, then he went on to say I should check this weekly, keep an eye on that, etc....so I figured since the iso tank was already set up and running, I'd just change it now and get it over with. The nice thing about silicone is that if you're not happy with your work, you could just pull it all apart and start over. With the new adhesive I'm using, it is PERMANENT. No way are those ramps coming off. I set up 1/8" acrylic as a base on the glass walls yesterday, and just a few moments ago I pulled on them, back and forth, until the whole 90 gallon tank was rocking on the stand! Yep, it's permanent alright.....

[FanOfTurts]

Wow......you have a cool set-up now!! Sorry again you had to go through that sand fiasco.

Cute turtle, too!!

Hope you're feeling better, too!!! = )

[Kallistos]

Whenever I get new things for my turtle, the first thing I do is throw it in the tank and eagerly watch as to how they'll react to it. Well, I've learned that testing always saves time. If anyone tries to introduce sand to their aquarium, just add a little clump of it and see if it dissapates in the water.

Oh yea, as I was scrolling down the page admiring the turtle pics, the picture of the belly button just made me jump a few feet off of my chair. please warn the weak stomachs like me lol