# Sediment Nightmare!



## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

I can't help myself...I come home from work & start to mess with my fishtank..
Many times lately, it's things that need done. Like yesterday, I moved my co2 ladder(?) away from the filter outlet. Also had to deal with some floaters..decided to do a water change..
I plant one floater & another one comes up. I take 2 rocks out. No, maybe that one would look good over here, with this plant..no, I don't like that, take the rock out, leave the plant float till I figure out what to do with that. I have to replant this, but the slate on my driftwood is taking up too much substrate space..my fiancee helps me lift the entire hood/light, so I can get the big thing out to remove the slate. While it's out, I remove rubberbands from ailing Java moss, replace with fishing line...blah, blah, blah. (On the plus side, I got a nice big slab of slate for a future project!)
Tonight it was another small water change, still trying to blow off sediment with a turkey baster & hoping to catch some of it with my siphon-yeah, right.
I bought some filter floss today & did some much needed maintenance on my filter, which was also coated with sediment. Figured I'd try the floss to see if it helped. All bubbling accessories have been removed, also.
I know I probably need to leave the tank alone for awhile, but don't like this stuff settling on my plants!
Is this a newbie problem? I haven't had clear water since the changeover, & would love to see it again, after all of this work. 
Other than that, my plants all seem to be growing strong roots, & I am seeing good new growth, except for my Java moss & fern-they are terrible!
Does anyone have any tricks for getting rid of the sediment problem? Or should I just bite my nails & leave it alone for awhile?
Colleen


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

do you like to clean?  
leave it alone for a while. things will settle in. fish tanks will be dirty, especially the filter. 
just brush the sediment off your plants and let it settle or the filter suck it up.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

What's your substrate? If it's flourite you can expect that cloudiness for a long time everytime you do a lot of stuff to the tank. You just have to figure that for about 24 hours afterwards you're going to have crud in the water.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

The "sediment" could be diatom algae too. I think most new tanks go thru an episode of that one, that doesn't last very long. It looks brown and seems to coat most everything.


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## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

Yep, I have Flourite..
For awhile there it seemed like I was constantly having to replant stuff, it was always coming up, & the re-arranging would stir up all kinds of crap. I'm getting it under control-I picked up a good idea on the forum for using floss in my filter which seems to help, & I'm going to leave it alone as far as re-arranging goes, except maybe for the introduction of some ground cover..
I'm just worried about stuff settling on the leaves & blocking light.
It's not diatoms, I've been through that wonderful experience when I first got the tank & had lots of plastic.
I am kind of a clean freak, though! Just a little!


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I've setup several tanks with Flourite and don't have a problem with sediment from the Flourite.

Of course I rinsed, and rinsed... and rinsed!  

Once rinsed though, never had a problem with sediment when uprooting plants, besides the normal mulm...


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

SkinniMini said:


> Yep, I have Flourite..
> I'm just worried about stuff settling on the leaves & blocking light.


I've used flourite and rinsed it very well before starting the tank, so I don't have any major issues with clouding.

With every replant, no matter what subtrate you use stuff rises from the substrate onto the plants and other decorations. You can always get a little syringe or turkey baste thingy, and flush the debris off the leaves, rocks, etc. That's why I do when after every replanting, waterchange. Keeps everything nice and clean. 

-John N.


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## RoseHawke (Jan 4, 2005)

John N. said:


> ". . . You can always get a little syringe or turkey baste thingy, and flush the debris off the leaves, rocks, etc. That's why I do when after every replanting, waterchange. Keeps everything nice and clean.  . . ."


I've also found that the turkey baster is an excellent device for sucking up extra snails . . .


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## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

hoppycalif said:


> The "sediment" could be diatom algae too. I think most new tanks go thru an episode of that one, that doesn't last very long. It looks brown and seems to coat most everything.


Well, lately on top of my sediment, which I was starting to get under control, I do have a diatom problem. This will be my first diatom outbreak since I changed over to live plants-I've been thru a few before, & they are a real pain to clean up. It's been a continuing battle since I started this tank last year, late September, & I was hoping that I wouldn't have the same problem with live plants..over the past few days it has gotten really bad. Somehow I have to get rid of it, soon, because I'm worried about my plants not getting the light that they need.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Diatoms are very common in new set ups. Usually it will clear in a couple of weeks. Do you have any ottos? They will eat some of this. Hang in there!


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