Sand dust over everything

[tinkerpuppet]

I replaced my substrate with Flourite Black Sand (with a little plain aquarium black sand to bulk up the corners). I didn't do a great pre-rinse job, so expected some cloudiness in the water, that's fine. But all the plants, driftwood and the sand itself seem to be covered in dust. Will this eventually get cleaned off naturally? Do I need to somehow brush everything off?

I love the look of the black sand tanks I've seen, but so far mine isn't looking like those. I hope this wasn't a giant mistake!

[Darkblade48]

Originally Posted by tinkerpuppet

I replaced my substrate with Flourite Black Sand (with a little plain aquarium black sand to bulk up the corners). I didn't do a great pre-rinse job, so expected some cloudiness in the water, that's fine. But all the plants, driftwood and the sand itself seem to be covered in dust. Will this eventually get cleaned off naturally? Do I need to somehow brush everything off?

I love the look of the black sand tanks I've seen, but so far mine isn't looking like those. I hope this wasn't a giant mistake!

You can use a turkey baster to blast the sand dust off.

[Diana]

I would do a job of cleaning it off. Just waving your hand by the plants can help, or gently shaking the plants.

With lots of water movement the dust might go away, but I would not leave it to chance.

You could use a slow siphon such as a gravel vac, but do not run it so fast the water sucks in the leaves. Then you are actually removing the dust from the system.

[AwkwardShrimp]

probably means you dont have that much flow in your tank if dust settles on everything, get a powerhead and that will clear up the problem for you

[DogFish]

Originally Posted by Diana

I would do a job of cleaning it off. Just waving your hand by the plants can help, or gently shaking the plants. ...

Yes, it's just that simple.

Do turn off the filter, so what you swish off settles on the substrate.

[tinkerpuppet]

Thank you, those are good ideas. I tried manually wiping/gently shaking everything, which helped, but there is still some dust left. I do have a powerhead that I've used with a sponge filter before. I worry that it would just blow more sand around creating more cloudy water/messy dust?

[AwkwardShrimp]

Originally Posted by tinkerpuppet

Thank you, those are good ideas. I tried manually wiping/gently shaking everything, which helped, but there is still some dust left. I do have a powerhead that I've used with a sponge filter before. I worry that it would just blow more sand around creating more cloudy water/messy dust?

it probably will be dusty when the power head gets going at first, but if youve got some filter floss in your filter should take good care of the dust. thats what i did in my tank, keeps anything from settling and the filter just picks it up. and the power head will push all of the light stuff that shouldnt really settle down in your tank anyway

[Diana]

Good point:
MAKE MORE MESS!
Then change the floss in the filter. The more mess you make now, the less there will be later.
You might use a small powerhead sort of like gardeners use a leaf blower: Blow the dust off the leaves!

[tinkerpuppet]

Just to check before I do something really dumb and make a big mistake, should I just point it around like a hair dryer? Blow the dust off?

My filter has a cartridge (Aqueon Quietflow 20), but I've added extra sponges and a dish scourer thingy that's green and pretty dense (good enough description? lol!). No actual floss though. I do have a new Fluval C4 arriving on Tues that I will run too (planning on eventually replacing the AQ20).

Should I wait to dust until I have the second filter going? Since my first filter has all the good bacteria, should I just stuff the second filter with floss to help clean out the dust until the water is clean? When that's done, I can add the other media to help seed it.

Thanks!

[TeteRouge]

+1 on the turkey baster- I used it setting up my Nuvo 8 with ActivFlora black-and every time I move a plant. I use the baster to blow the dust off, cram a square of filter floss behind the overflow on the sump and change/rinse it every hour or so. Repeat with the baster, etc. Within 2-3 hours, it sparkles.