View Full Version : oops! fiance didn't rinse the gravel
aya336
07-08-2009, 3:09 PM
So for my birthday my fiance went out and got me a beautiful 47 gal corner tank and I came home to it being all set up... It was a little cloudy but I figured that it was nothing...I was up a week and still very cloudy (he didn't put fish in there...he knew better then that).
I had dropped some of those plant bulbs from walmart into the tank and 2 of the began sprouting. I went to anchor the plants into the gravel when poof! a huge mud cloud came from the gravel. Now I've been vaccuming the bottom of the tank and multiple buckets of brown water and I'm still at a loss.
What do I do? do I have to break the whole tank down and start from scratch?
*facepalm*
jpappy789
07-08-2009, 3:11 PM
Just regular aquarium gravel?
aya336
07-08-2009, 3:15 PM
and now my plants I ordered just arrived! -___-
aya336
07-08-2009, 3:16 PM
Just regular aquarium gravel?
He knew I wanted plants so he got one bag of the flurolife (something like that) gravel along with normal gravel
jpappy789
07-08-2009, 3:23 PM
fluorite?
aya336
07-08-2009, 3:24 PM
i believe that's it something simple at petsmart
coach_z
07-08-2009, 3:25 PM
Seachem Flourite? is that the substrate?
if it is it...i would stir the heck out of it to get your water extremely cloudy, do a 100% water changge, refil, plant, then cycle your tank (link to some good cycling information is in my signature in case you need it)
if it is something like eco-complete no rinsing is necessary.
-chris
aya336
07-08-2009, 3:47 PM
Seachem Flourite? is that the substrate?
if it is it...i would stir the heck out of it to get your water extremely cloudy, do a 100% water changge, refil, plant, then cycle your tank (link to some good cycling information is in my signature in case you need it)
if it is something like eco-complete no rinsing is necessary.
-chris
It definitely started with an F so I'm doing the water change now and hopefully it'll work.
Thanks
aya336
07-08-2009, 3:47 PM
:welcome: welcome to AC
Thanks! I wish it was on less panicked terms ^_^:hitting:
coach_z
07-08-2009, 3:48 PM
oh, i forgots. float your plants in a bucket of water...they will be fine for a while.
colematthewmala
07-08-2009, 4:21 PM
i forgot to wash my gravel for my tank and it didn't go cloudy. That sucks though
aya336
07-08-2009, 5:05 PM
Ok so I did a total water change and filled the tank again. I'm going to wait for it to settle and we'll see how it turns out...
The plants are in and I hope I set them up nice.
I'll update when there is something to update
*crossing fingers*
67chevelle
07-08-2009, 5:12 PM
If it does not clear up this time,stir it up,and change the water again.It might take doing it a few times before it clears up.Do you have a python siphon?
Don't forget to post pics!
Star_Rider
07-08-2009, 5:13 PM
if it is flourite it is a porous clay.
I use it.. it needs a lot of rinsing to remove the dust. but you will probably never be able to rinse it enough to get it clear.
best bet.. would be remove it into buckets. and rinse several time. then p[ut it back.
an alternative would be use a vac , do large water change.. try to replace the water with minimal disturbance of the substrate.
let it sit for several days and it should settle. also use filter floss in the filter and rinse or replace it while the dust settles.
btw, I like it as a substrate for plants.
Slappy*McFish
07-08-2009, 5:34 PM
These are the best for gravel rinsing and worth every penny.
http://www.homestorageconcepts.com/default.aspx?act=catalog.aspx&catalogid=2076&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
All that stirring of the gravel wont mess up the filter??? I would personally remove it all and rinse it out in buckets or a strainer like shown by Slappy
DarrylR
07-08-2009, 9:00 PM
I have flourite in most of my tanks, even with a good rinsing I am still having dust clouds every a few years. During each rescape a dust cloud still occurs.
When a tank gets cloudy with particles, I just put filter floss in my filter to remove them.
coach_z
07-09-2009, 9:29 AM
When a tank gets cloudy with particles, I just put filter floss in my filter to remove them.
^i was just going to suggest this^
benzjamin13
07-09-2009, 12:38 PM
When a tank gets cloudy with particles, I just put filter floss in my filter to remove them.
That's what I was thinking as well
Star_Rider
07-09-2009, 2:33 PM
you will continue to have issues with 'dust' with flourite.. but the floss helps
aya336
07-09-2009, 9:31 PM
I went out today and got some filter floss. I did another complete water change today and took out the gravel as well. I couldn't believe how much time it took to rinse it all and it still wasn't perfectly clear, but it was as good as it was going to get and my backyard got flooded :-p It's still cloudy as of right now but hopefully with the total rinse and filter floss I can get a decent looking aquarium instead of a cloudy mess...