Substrate help.

[Basicfgts]

Hello everyone! Currently new to this site and the axolotol life.
I was wondering about how long would it take for play sand to settle inside my tank?
I made the mistake of not cleaning it before hand and now with the slightest movement of the tank water it gets so murky and hard to see. I was wondering if needed to take the sand out and wash it or will it eventually cycle through and be okay. Id rather not have to remove all the water because im a few days into my fishless cycle.

 

[MnGuy]

Sounds like sand dust/fine particles, which won’t go away when the tank cycles, which is a bacterial process. Personally, I would stir up the sand, siphon out the water and new water that has been treated with Prime/dechlorinator and keep repeating the process until your water is clear.

Make sure to remove or turn off any HOB or canister filters so they don’t ingest the sand particles.

Good luck.