How long does fluorite pose a clouding problem [answer]

[smaug]

For all those who have asked "How long till it stops clouding my tank"The answer is it never stops if you disturb it!I removed some ailing swords tonight and this is what it looked like after uprooting just 2 med sized ones:c11: The thing is,I only have 15lbs of it in there and its been there for over 2 years.
10888

[Dave66]

That, smaug my friend, is why I keep a couple diatom filters around. Believe me, I've had tanks look just like that before lol.

Dave

[smaug]

I will sometimes use my hot mag with a micron filter to clear stuff like this up.Normally Ill just let it settle and lightly fan it off the plants later.Its been about 3 hrs now and its fairly cleared up.I do stuff like this when its time to clean the filter!

[korith]

My substrate is flourite too, I went in to move one hornwort and put in an amazon, and a dustcloud formed fairly quick. Pretty much the instant you dig into it, you're gonna cause the cloud hehe. Takes about 20min or so to clear each time.

[MrDrums]

Is it necessary to use that stuff with live plants? I have never tried live plants before, and would like to, but have no idea where to start. Probbaly with somethng very LOW maintenance. Seems I have seen several people on the forum mention clouding problems with the substrate on live plants.

[smaug]

Its really only a minor problem.It does cloud when its disturbed but it goes away fairly quickly.Its not necessary for good plant growth but for iron hungry root feeders such as sword plants it is very beneficial.