I'm just getting started on a planted aquarium and bought some flourite. This may be a crazy question, but am I supposed to rinse the flourite until it runs clear. It doesn't seem like I'm getting very far and I figured I'd better ask before I kept going. Thanks.
Flourite rinsing
- Thread starter shmagu
- Start date
Unless you are very very patient, and have tons of time, forget about getting fluorite to be completely clean. What I do is take 1-2 cups of fluorite, rinse it once or twice like you would with normal gravel (in a bucket with running water, swirling and draining), then dump it into the tank. Once you are done, get a flat dish (glass, plastic, whatever) and fill your tank directing the water onto the dish. The dish should be large enough to help spread the water out and thus reducing the amount of force from falling water. After the tank is filled, leave it for a day or two for the dust to settle. Fill your mechanical filters with floss and run those for a few days till your tank has settled a bit more.
HTH
-Richer
HTH
-Richer
Welcome to Aquaria Central!
Flourite is a good choice. I hear it is dusty... Use a bucket and hose it out until most of the dust is out. You don't need to get it all. It will settle in the tank when you fill it. How long? - I'm not exactly sure. There are plenty Flourite users here. I have Onyx sand, a close 'cousin' to Flourite (same company sells them). The Onyx rinsed out without much effort.
Welcome...
to Aquaria Central, home of the most patient fishkeepers on the Internet
Having said that, I am usually very patient and had a lot of time, and I could not get the flourite to run clear. So, I'd doing what Richer suggested and I hope to get my cichlids in their new tank tomorrow morning...
Val
to Aquaria Central, home of the most patient fishkeepers on the Internet
Having said that, I am usually very patient and had a lot of time, and I could not get the flourite to run clear. So, I'd doing what Richer suggested and I hope to get my cichlids in their new tank tomorrow morning...
Val
Do fluorite and laterite turn into mud in the aquarium like kitty litter does? Or do the lumps remain solid?
Obvious next stage now I've found how to get good growth with stem plants using CO2.
Obvious next stage now I've found how to get good growth with stem plants using CO2.
Fluorite stays as it is in the tank... gravel. The reason why people complain about it, is because it is dusty. The dust in turn clouds up the tank, and in some cases, makes the tank look muddy.
-Richer
-Richer
Thanks! Is laterite the same? (Mrs Faramir has vetoed ever using kitty litter again, or anything like it, after the Tank Move Clay On The Carpet Incident.)
I've used kitty litter and never had the problem with it turning to MUD. Hartz PH5 in the red and white bags is the stuff I've used in the past. Stayed together just fine. There was a wide range of grain sizes which the plants liked. Can't speak for any other brand though.
Chaz
Chaz
Ours did. Pure Fuller's Earth. Turned straight to grey mud.
That's what I was told to use. I wonder why I don't see it advocated so much these days
?
I've just found http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~boingy/litter.html - this indicates that even pure clay kitty litters are not created equal. Unfortunately, the brands appear to be totally different in the UK, and there aren't many different ones available down the pet shop.
Hence I shall have to go with laterite or fluorite and do this properly.
That's what I was told to use. I wonder why I don't see it advocated so much these days
?I've just found http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~boingy/litter.html - this indicates that even pure clay kitty litters are not created equal. Unfortunately, the brands appear to be totally different in the UK, and there aren't many different ones available down the pet shop.
Hence I shall have to go with laterite or fluorite and do this properly.
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