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I just finished switching from gravel to sand, and I think my columbians are going to love it. I'd like to get the fish moved back into the tank as soon as possible as I'm a little conscerned the powerhead i have stirring up the water may not provide enough aeration(sp?) in their temporary 5 gallon home. Will the silt still clouding up my water in the tank hurt the fish at all?? I've fished some pretty mucky lakes and the fish seem fine, but I like these little guys and would rather not take any extra risks.

any help would be appreciated,
-chris

I forgot to mention that I did rinse the sand (obviously not enough...). I would imagine that once it settles, i should be able to siphon off the excess silt over time.


But I want it to look good NOW!

I have used river sand from a clear stream near my home and rinsed out for at least an hour with silt still clouding the water.
I have come to the conclusion that the silt is actually not a bad thing. My reasoning is that I plant most of my tanks and have found that the stream sand supports plants much better than store bought types and I beleive this to be the result of the plants gleaning nutrients from the silt, (Its based on some pretty complex cat ion exchange priciples that I won't torture you with).
Anyhow, the tank will settle and in the end be better for it.

I think you'd be fine to move them. The last 2 times I switched over a tank to sand I didn't even take the fish out and never had any problems. The cloudiness probably bothers you a whole lot more than them!

I just went through this about 3 weeks ago. I got some 100 micron clothe and placed in front of my filter. It worked really fast. You just have to make sure you check it ofter do to it gets dirty quick. I'd shut the power head down a while and let it clear some and then start it up slow so your filter can catch up. But that's me.

Thanks to all for your replies. I rigged up a prefilter for my magnum hang on tank canister filter, and used the micron filter. I had to clean everything out ever few hours, but things are looking great now. Now all I need to do is find some company for my columbian sharks. THey are in full saltwater.