DIRTY TANK!

Hi! The HOB is an AquaClear 50, running at slowest speed. I took out the carbon, just running 2 sponge and the white "bio-enhance filter media" at the top.
 
I think you are pulling the small Flourite particles thru your UGF and blowing them back all over the tank. You keep saying they fall off the plants. IME, the algae wouldn't just fall off.
 
Yes, that's kind of what I think now. It's NOT sticky like bacteria or algae. Just a very light cloud of "dust". I guess I have to break down the tank and remove the flourite, or switch the UGF to a simple airstone? Anybody have any experience with a Diatom power filter for a good final cleaning???
 
You could switch it to RUGF and up the floss in the HOB
 
OK, I can live with that option... I am getting resigned to tearing it down and pulling out the Flourite- I don't want this junk just blasted out the top. I have a "fishbowl" I can put the plants in- they seem to be doing well, and it would be a shame to waste them... However, in the interest of being "balanced", which powerheads are reversible? I'd like to have a pair, as I'm just thinking that a single unit will have a decreasing range of effectiveness as I move further away- even in a 20 gal. tank.
 
Yes- a lot! Untill I got tired of it- my hands were cold and wrinkly, my shoes soggy and there was black water everywhere on the back patio. It never rinsed clear, but I got it down to the "slightly murky" level. The pea gravel was clear from the first rinse.
 
hmmm i dont know what to say because to me it does not sound like algea if it is falling off the plants... sorry that substrate didnt work for you.
 
Well, we'll find out shortly. Also Today I scraped as much of the pea gravel off the Flourite as I could then took the tank apart, rinsed everything and replaced the UGF. Hadd to add quite a bit more gravel, as well. I added two Aqua Clear 50's for a RUGF. Not really sure what they are doing; not much movement in the sediment that I can see. The HOB filter is pumping merily away in the garage, churning a 5 gal. bucket of the old water. It's pretty clear in the bucket now! I guess that proves is WAS the Flourite. BTW, I think I rooted most of it out; maybe 250 to 1 pgrav. to Flour. Tomorrow I will rinse out the filter and put it back in the tank. The old Flourite? Kinda thinking about dumping it around the Roses- the minerals will help I think. They get the fishtank water anyway... The only critters I have in the tank are 2 shrimps; they seem pretty happy now. What to do with my old airpump???
 
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