Substrate that doesn't cloud the water?

[AndyL]

Quick question...

Anyone able to recommend a substrate that doesn't cloud up the water when dug in? My pred tank has suddenly gone very cloudy since the introduction of the dragon wrasse - his constant digging / burying himself is stirring up tons of particles making it awful cloudy. (Before it's suggested, yes I have checked NH3/4, and NO2 - not a cycling issue).

Currently I've got some Caribsea aragonite, the plan would be to add more over top of the existing (the wrasse needs more sand anyway). Shouldn't be any issues dumping in the new sand over top of the old right?

Andy

[Invigor]

u might want to get a 4" pvc tube or similar when you add your new sand so it doesn't go everywhere..

I've used caribsea sugarfine aragonite, and it only clouded if something went hardcore into the sand or something, but only for a minute was it cloudy.

[Rikko]

The degree of substrate "kick up" depends also on the age of the tank (more than a few months and all particles will be heavier due to bacterial colonization) and your water flow. I've got a heavy flow tank so any time some sand gets kicked up, it generally does a pretty big circuit before falling to rest somewhere. I suppose you could try throwing a layer of crushed coral on top opf your sand bed, but there are obvious drawbacks. First, as sand dwelling critters roam around it will start to mix and bring sand to the surface again to restart the problem, and I've also heard that you can get stratification of the sand bed which for reasons unknown to me are bad.

[G1GY]

I think that no matter what substrate you use you'll get a sand storm and clouding. I think that the clouding comes from what's accumulated in the substrate rather than the substrate itself.

[AndyL]

Well the tank is new, been running since december - added the lion last week, the wrasse yesterday. So... There shouldn't be a lot built up, but I know when I put the substrate in, I couldn't see anything for 3-4 days. It was a mixture of dust - pebble sized in the bag - so that could be half the problem.

Not sure if adding a pvc tube full of substrate would work - he stirs it up while hunting... Stirs it up while trying to find a comfy place for a nap... Basically he's constantly hunting around or rolling in it - making it rather difficult to contain.

Andy

[G1GY]

Maybe put a sponge or some floss into your filter system for a couple of days to pick up the dust and remove it from the tank?

[sumpfinfishe]

Andy:
I think the point that Invigor was trying to make was that if you add new sand to your existing bed you may want to use a tube of some sort to transfer the sand down to the bottom of the tank. It's an old trick to keep the new sand from stiring up, just use a pvc pipe or some wide diameter tubing and feed the new sand in at the top, the sand will flow down the tube and you can direct it where you want it with out a huge sandstorm.

As for the clouding by your wrasse well Rikko and G1GY covered that quite well. You are not going to be able to stop the wrasse from digging, so having a storm of sand here and there is something your gonna have to live with-unless you get rid of the fish. I have two yellow watchmen gobies that are alway's digging and stiring up the sand, and with the high flow in my tank it gets blown pretty much everywhere, but eventually it settles.

I also hope that you washed all your sand(not the live variety) before adding it to your tank. If not, this could be a reason why it's so cloudy!
When adding new dry sand to a setup, I alway's let it rinse in a bucket in the bath tube or with a garden hose outside until the water runs clear even after it's be slightly stirred.

[EmilyB]

Yes, ultimately you have to make decisions based on the fish.

I went barebottom in my trigger/fo for those reasons. He packed sand continually, and now we have him in wall

[Rikko]

Hey Rich - what's the footprint of your tank? I'd love another shrimp goby but know how little they seem to tolerate one another (assuming you don't have a pair). My tank is a 65 with a 36x18 footprint.

[danny zubot]

First, as sand dwelling critters roam around it will start to mix and bring sand to the surface again to restart the problem,

I have a mix of crushed coral and aragonite in my tank and I find the opposite happens. The arag. is smaller so it settles under the crushed coral after the critters stir it up. Its a density thing. In a predator tank I would have gone with a fine crushed coral, provided you wont be having a lot of sand dwelling creatures.