# gravel causing milky water, no fish yet



## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

hi, 
starting a 38G community tank, no fish yet

i am using river gravel and i cant seem to clean this gravel out!!! 

i spent a day cleaning it, put it in my tank, and had to drain the tank the following weak cause it was still dirty, brownish. 

i have 3 buckets 1/2full with the gravel, i've used strainers, washing it in small amounts, agitating the crap out of it, vacuuming it in the tank, before and now as well, thats 2 days spent cleaning it! 

and the water still looks murky/milky when i put it into a glass! i even added some water conditioner to the glass to see if it was just alot of dissolved minerals, but it still didn't clear up


The Gravel is i guess natural river gravel, it even has tiny little shells in it, its not the shiny, glossy/smooth gravel, and its made/imported from the Philippines according to the bag

i feel like just buying new gravel

ps. i just checked the glass i pour some of the water from the bucket, it it has white powder residue on the bottom after sitting for about 12hours


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## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

anyone have any suggestions? 


my last resort is to keep flushing the gravel, and once i fill the tank, to replace the filter media with just filter floss since the regular filter media wasnt doing a good job removing the tiny particles 

but im wondering if agitating it is gridning the stones together to create that powder residue?


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## NewfieFishGuy (Jul 27, 2006)

Not sure I have any suggestions for you. What's the brand of the gravel?

Last time I bought real gravel I was able to wash it fairly well just by rinsing it. It didn't take too long. After putting it in the tank and turned on the filter, it cleared up in a day or so.

Maybe attach a picture? It might inspire someone.

I doubt that the filter agitation is creating new particles...


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## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

NewfieFishGuy said:


> I doubt that the filter agitation is creating new particles...


sorry, not filter agitations, but when i use my hands to wash the gravel in the buckets

the thing is that when i left the water in the glass, it was cloudy, the next morning it cleared a little leaving the white residue on the bottom of the glass, 

i guess when i fill it this time, i will leave the powerhead and filter off to let it settle, and then i'll just vaccume the bottom.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Do you have hard water?


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## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

as far as i know, i dont have hard water, 

even with my 10g i did the same thing and didn't have this much trouble 

here is a picture of the water 

left is gravel run off from bucket after flushing gravel, the right is just tap water from the same tap. 

this is after 10min after pouring each glass 

and after i empty the glass, the residue thats left on the bottom


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Are you sure it's a white powder or is it a film of bubbles? It's normal for new gravel to cause a foggy cloud for a few days after being put in a new tank and the more gravel you have the longer it can take to clear up. You might try cleaning it the way I did with my sand. Put it in a large bucket, stick a water hose in it all the way to the bottom and let it overflow til the water is clear.


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## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

hmm, i'll give that a try, 

but its not bubbles, the glass does have air bubbles in it, 
but if you look at the 2nd pic, the glass has alot of residue on the bottom, 

i whiped the glass with a paper towel and and left colored stains on the paper towel


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