No matter what kind of substrate you use if you have water crashing down into the substrate its gonna make it cloudy for a while. Using some filter floss in your water filter will help clear that up. Pool filter sand is just fine for aquarium plants thats all I have ever used. The plants in the water will get there nutrients from the water column. Even heavy root feeders such as crypts or swords.

my 125 gallon with just pool filter sand and no root tabs. I used pressurized co2 and dosed nutrients in the water column.

Great start on the tank btw

 

Well, the paludarium is running for 2 weeks now and still the water didn't changed a bit. I was fool and didn't projected it initially with a filter, so I bought a small submersible filter to try clear the water, but I don't think it will work, it's been working since yesterday, I will see the results when I get home...

Maybe it's still cloudy because the waterfalls crashs too close to the water? In the pictures I posted you can see the fall, it didn't move so much underwater to make all that mess...


Also, you use ONLY the filter sand? No other substrate layer? :O

 

The pictures you posted of the cloudy water look exactly how mine did when I would stir up the substrate. Is the pool filter sand you bought a silica based sand? You dont want to layer substrate underwater because it will settle (small stuff works its way to the bottom, large stuff to the top)

 

I dunno for sure but I think it is silica based... Is this good or bad? lol

And when I put the water in the tank it don't make that cloud, but after some hours it will look foggy and them after 1 day it will look like this swamp you saw in the pics. D:

 

Silica based is perfect. I would turn the waterfalls off if it clears up then you know its the waterfalls stirring the dirt up

 

What materials did you use to make the background? If it is clay, the water from the waterfalls will wash clay from your background into the water. Another possible source is if you used coco fiber/coir on the background, and the driftwood you have sitting in the water can release tannins (the stuff that makes tea brown) which will also darken your water.

 

I gonna try turn off the pump a while...

The background is coco fiber siliconed into expanding foam, but I doubt that is it. The driftwood propably will make the water brown/red, but no so cloudy. You can clearly see the smoke in the water in the first pic is the same color as the sand...