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A340
04-30-2007, 06:43 AM
Hey everyone!

I'm working on a heavily planted tank, I've moved my platies, danios and clowns into a 10g so I could remove the old gravel and add the flourite substrate.

Anyway, I bought 3 bags of Seachem's Flourite and even though the bag said it doesn't need to be rinsed, I washed it out regardless.

Filled the bottom of the tank with the new substrate and added the water. Now, the problem is that the bag said the water could become cloudy for a few hours, but the water is basically muck. I ran the filters for a few hours to try and clean it out, but nothing. So I siphoned the water out, removed the flourite substrate and re-rinsed it, but I just can't get it any cleaner.

Is this normal for this type of substrate? How can you reduce the muddines of the water?
A340
04-30-2007, 07:42 AM
I did a quick google search and found a few other forums. Recommendations on a few threads I found was to rinse, rinse, rinse and rinse some more.

Guess that means I have my day planned tomorrow ... lol!

Well, I just hope the results are worth all the effort, cause if they aren't I'll be pretty ticked having spent $120 on the stuff ... :(
Drumachine09
04-30-2007, 12:34 PM
Yes, flourite is extremely messy. You need to rinse untill you cant see dirt, and then rinse 3 more times.
cocoa_pleco
04-30-2007, 12:58 PM
my saltwater substrate does that. No matter how much i wash it stays cloudy for a few hours then magically it goes crystal clear
Lady Hobbs
04-30-2007, 01:49 PM
Rather than take it out of the tank now, which really would be a mess, just keep changing the water in your tank. I hope you have a python to make the job easier because you will need several water changes. (The water you take out makes good fert for house plants too.) I rinsed my fluorite 3 times and the rest cleared up within several hours. You can also mix some of your used gravel to it as long as the better part is fluorite.
Chrona
04-30-2007, 01:55 PM
I highly recommend this method for washing. I had zero issues.
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Lady Hobbs
04-30-2007, 01:59 PM
Yes, that's a very good article. It wouldn't work for me living in an apartment so I used my tub. NICE! lol
Chrona
04-30-2007, 02:00 PM
Yes, that's a very good article. It wouldn't work for me living in an apartment so I used my tub. NICE! lol

Or you could have been known as the crazy lady that washes trays of dirt outside on the grass, LOL
A340
04-30-2007, 08:03 PM
Or you could have been known as the crazy lady that washes trays of dirt outside on the grass, LOL
Oh, I can just picture that .... lol!

Thanks for all the help everyone. I figured I'd have to end up rinsing some more, I just found it odd that on the bag it ways you can dump it right into the aquarium, no washing neccessary. So, given that logic, I figured that if you rinse it too much, you'll wash out all the goodies in it.

Anyway, just gonna finish my coffee and out to the garden to rinse away. After that, I think I'll have to dismantle my 29g and give it a good rinse as well, not to mention the filter and everything else in it.

Oh, the joy's of having an aquarium .... :ezpi_wink1:
Drumachine09
04-30-2007, 08:04 PM
Hope everything works out for you.
xoolooxunny
04-30-2007, 08:25 PM
I highly recommend this method for washing. I had zero issues.
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This is what I did, but i used the plastic trays from the annuals i bought last year. Even after the water was running clear, i waited almost a week for the water to clear before I could start planting.
Lady Hobbs
04-30-2007, 09:28 PM
I didn't care for it much. Too fluffy to keep the plants in the substract. I even had some of my own gravel in with it and they'd still be floating the the morning.
A340
05-01-2007, 12:07 AM
Well, I've been rinsing for the last hour and only 1/2 ways done. Have it somewhat clean, after about 7 rinses. Grrrr! I'll post some pics of the mess a bit later.
Chrona
05-01-2007, 01:31 AM
It goes much faster if you put it all in a large colander or something and just hose it. I had it over a 5g bucket so I could dump the water on plants and whatnot. The crucial thing, as that article mentions, is to let it DRY COMPLETELY before adding it.
A340
05-01-2007, 05:20 AM
It goes much faster if you put it all in a large colander or something and just hose it. I had it over a 5g bucket so I could dump the water on plants and whatnot. The crucial thing, as that article mentions, is to let it DRY COMPLETELY before adding it.
That's what I did, took me about 20 colander's full, rinsed each one about 7 times to get somewhat clear water. Spread it out over an old blanket, it took about 2 hours to dry somewhat.

In the mean time, I cleaned the whole tank, having to dismantle it. There was a good 1/2 inch of muck on the bottom of the filter. Cleaned that out, rinsed out the sponge, carbon, CO2 system, heater, thermometer and tank itself. At least I had the filter's cermaic rings in the 10g with the fish, so those (and some bacteria) are intact.

Now, I got re-set the whole thing up, yayyers ... :19: :ezpi_wink1:
A340
05-01-2007, 07:37 AM
As promised, the pictures (click on thumbnails for larger image):

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Continued in next post ...
A340
05-01-2007, 07:40 AM
Sorry, double post (it's late and been a loooooong day) please delete, thanks
A340
05-01-2007, 07:41 AM
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You can clearly see how much crap went into the filter, not impressed one bit. The last pic is the results of the second attempt. Note the usual cloudiness, not the crap that Seachem claimed as cloudiness.

What ticks me off the most, is at $40 a bag, the instructions could have been much more accurate and not claim to be able to be added directly to the aquarium with out needing to be washed first.

Moral of the story? Instructions are not always correct, use your common sense ... thumbs2:
Chrona
05-01-2007, 01:13 PM
40 bucks a bag????

Ouch, where do you live? Normal retail is like 25 bucks a bag, lol. Dr. Foster and Smith sells them for like 18 a bag with 10 bucks shipping per order.

Btw, I laughed when I saw those muck pictures. Sorry.... ;)
Lady Hobbs
05-01-2007, 01:35 PM
Well, I've been rinsing for the last hour and only 1/2 ways done. Have it somewhat clean, after about 7 rinses. Grrrr! I'll post some pics of the mess a bit later.

I wouldn't keep rinsing until the water was clear or you're washing all the goodies out of it. It will settle into the Fluorite and clear itself in a few hours with the filter running. You think Fluorite is bad! You should see Laterite! sheesh

With Fluorite I didn't appreciate the cloud of dust that settled all over my plants everytime I tried to plant something but once planted it should work for you fine. I just have no patience and I was blaming my huge amount of algae on the Fluorite instead of my bubblers.
xoolooxunny
05-01-2007, 03:20 PM
ahhh, the sweet memories of starting a planted tank...
A340
05-01-2007, 07:12 PM
40 bucks a bag????

Ouch, where do you live? Normal retail is like 25 bucks a bag, lol. Dr. Foster and Smith sells them for like 18 a bag with 10 bucks shipping per order.

Btw, I laughed when I saw those muck pictures. Sorry.... ;)
$40 bucks a bag, yup. The cheapest I found (in Canada) was $36 a bag.

Thanks for laughing .... :ezpi_wink1:

Hobbs,

I was worried about washing out all the goodies too, that's why I followed the instructions on the bag and didn't bother to rinse very well the first time. Oh, well It's all behind me now ... lol!