# AquariumPlants.com Substrate



## Gracecat (Jan 3, 2008)

Has anyone had any experience with Aquarium Plants "in house" substrate they advertise? 
I used the search engine to see if any previous posts would answer my question and I found one that mentioned repackaging? I had placed an order a little over a week ago for my plants after establishing (or so I believed) my tank but run into problems with the water clarity. I called AP.com to delay shipment and was told after explaining my problem, he'd guarantee my plants if I used his substrate and fertilizer. I haven't seen anybody giving a review on his product however.

I haven't been thrilled with my Seachem Flourite purchase. I washed and washed, and washed and it still kicked up a lot of cloudiness when I added water which I haven't been able to clear up. I'm running a Rena Xp4 filter and assumed the filter would remove some of the cloudiness (and thus ordered my beginner plants). It looks like I'm going to have to completely remove the water and wash the flourite even more. 


I have a 48x24x30 150 gallon so the depth is a pain in the butt to think about taking all of that flourite back out. I'm only 5'2 with short arms.  So this is the stupid portion of my question... Can I use a python to clean the flourite, or would it be my best bet to remove it completely from the aquarium and take it outside with an aggressive water hose?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

For your first question, I have the Aquarium Plants substrate in my most recent tank. I got it because it's the same as Soil Master Select, which is what I wanted but I can't buy it around here. I just dumped it into the aquarium with water already in there (I already had my rockwork and driftwood set up and didn't want the wood drying out). I should have rinsed it as I had a really cloudy tank for about 24 hours, then gradually decreasing cloudiness for another day. Then I cleaned the filter and was good to go. It was really lightweight at first and hard to keep the plants down, but it seems to have gotten waterlogged and it's easy to plant in and keep the plants down now. My plants are growing great and I'm really happy with it. If you have access to SMS, get that instead as it's cheaper and the same thing.


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

Gracecat said:


> ...I haven't been thrilled with my Seachem Flourite purchase. I washed and washed, and washed and it still kicked up a lot of cloudiness when I added water which I haven't been able to clear up. I'm running a Rena Xp4 filter and assumed the filter would remove some of the cloudiness (and thus ordered my beginner plants). It looks like I'm going to have to completely remove the water and wash the flourite even more.
> 
> I have a 48x24x30 150 gallon so the depth is a pain in the butt to think about taking all of that flourite back out. I'm only 5'2 with short arms.  So this is the stupid portion of my question... Can I use a python to clean the flourite, or would it be my best bet to remove it completely from the aquarium and take it outside with an aggressive water hose?..


I have a bucket of AP substrate on standby to test and it will likely be a while before I have time and space to set up the test tank to test it.

I went through the same thing as you with Seachem Fluorite so I share your pain. For me though it was only for a 10 gallon. Actually, a petstore staff member told me that you should not rinse the Seachem Fluorite as you only end up rinsing out all the good stuff the plants need. I don't know if taht is true or not. I rinsed it no less than a 100 times(yes I actually counted) and it was still cloudy. Out of frustration, I bought some Seachem Clarity and used that in combination with changing the polyfibre daily together with 50% water changes. After about 5 days of this, the dust finally settled. I set up another tank with Schultz Aquatic Soil, rinsed it only 10 times, got no cloudiness, and plant growth was the same as in plants grown in Fluorite. I paid $38.88 for a bag of Seachem Fluorite and $7.99 for the same sized bag of Schultz Aquatic Soil. The only thing is that the Schultz is really light but if I had capped it with about 25% pool filter sand, I think that it would have been fine.


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## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

Fluorite is inert except for the iron content so rinsing it doesn't hurt. The best way I've
found to rinse it is to get a 5 gallon bucket and use a paint strainer or cheese cloth.
You can get those at Lowe's or Home Depot for a bit less than $10.00.

After it rinses clear make sure your water column doesn't touch it as you poor it into
the tank (use a diner plate and glass) and take your time. It will still cloud a bit but
will clear up in a few hours. Then do the mandatory 50% water change.

As you can tell from my other posts I'm a SMS/SAS fanatic myself 

- Brad


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I just set up a tank with 1 bag of the new flourite black and 1 9 L bag of AS. I rinsed in the 5 g bucket until it was almost clear and then dumped it in. Haven't had any problems. I have used the other flourite for years. I did always rinse it. It with gravel and plant tabs grew great plants for me for decades. It's a great substrate for supplying iron. 

I would used a siphon tube and do a thorough vacuum if I were you. I would get a micron filter pad for my XP filter. The dirtier the pad the more it will trap. Use 2 if you need to. Keep changing water. It will clear. If not use a water clarifier. It will be much less work than a change out - and you must have some micro bacteria established by now that you will loose if you change out your substrate. Just my 2 cents.


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Tex Gal said:


> I would used a siphon tube and do a thorough vacuum if I were you. I would get a micron filter pad for my XP filter. The dirtier the pad the more it will trap. Use 2 if you need to. Keep changing water. It will clear. If not use a water clarifier. *It will be much less work than a change out *- ..... Just my 2 cents.


AGREED!!!

You've already invested the money in the Flourite; once you have it cleaned, it will be a great substrate for you. On a 150g tank, quite an investment I'm sure!

First, I would not remove it from a tank and pay for a second substrate, just because it needs a little more cleaning.

Secondly, on a tank that deep..well, you definately have my _deepest_ sympathy(ha,ha ha..love my pun:yo. I'm also 5'2" and have one 24" deep tank, a 35 gallon hex tank. I hate working in this tank. I avoid it! I've totally reworked the scape to mostly slow growers and minimal maintenance.

Third, yes with extra cleaning using a python and water changes you should be able to get the Flourite clean enough. Stuffing your filter w/ floss - even cheap quilt batting from JoAnn Fabrics or Walmart - and some extra filter cleanings. Also, the Flourite will never become 100% cleaned, just rinse the very finest dust out. A lot of the finer particles will work their way and settle into the deeper level of the substrate. So, don't worry about all of it, get most of what's water borne, and the top layer.


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## Gracecat (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks everybody!!!

I used a water clarifier and that stuff works! I've avoided a lot of chemicals on the market because I found they don't do as well as I expected or they advertised. (I never could use the litmus paper pH indicator strips. I always  at the too close in color charts.) So while I picked up another bottle of Stress coat, I picked up Seachem's water clarifier. I like it.

I used the SMS in my 40 gallon since I wanted to play with plants and knowing I can't as much or as easily in my deep tank. It didn't cloud nearly as much and cleared with just a little clarity help. So I'm not sure if that's accurate in cloudiness tests since I used the water clarifier on it as well.

I appreciate AquariumPlants.com for holding my order while I bang my head against the wall on this. 
Hopefully they'll ship tomorrow. I expected them to ship today but I haven't gotten a tracking code yet so Wednesday it looks to be delivery day.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

So glad it all turned out for you. I know people have said that the clarifiers aren't the best for the gills of the fish using it once in a blue moon at recommended levels can't hurt. I have only had to use it 3 times in decades so that's not bad! (I've had fish since I was 12).


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## Bugman (Jan 20, 2008)

Here is a tip that I think works better than a dinner plate. I use a frisby. Turn it upside down and pour into it. The water will flow over the curved rims of the frisby without much of even a ripple.

As a side note for those that love SMS. It is apparently no longer being made in the charcoal. Lesco is not carrying SMS anymore at all. What is in their stores is it. Check the Pro Choice (makers of SMS) website and you will only find a listing for red now. Lesco is carrying Turface Pro which I understand is very similar. Just ordered a bag today.


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

great idea! I am going to use it when I fill my tank in a week or so.


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## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

Bugman said:


> As a side note for those that love SMS. It is apparently no longer being made in the charcoal. Lesco is not carrying SMS anymore at all. What is in their stores is it. Check the Pro Choice (makers of SMS) website and you will only find a listing for red now. Lesco is carrying Turface Pro which I understand is very similar. Just ordered a bag today.


"Pro Choice" is the product line name for the SMS products and it's made by Oildri. = http://www.oildri.com/agri/turbase.htm

Where did you hear they are no longer making it? If it's from a Lesco employee I'd question
that answer until Oildri comes out with a press release as Lesco's store clerks isn't known for there
in depth insider knowledge.

- Brad


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## Bugman (Jan 20, 2008)

You are right about the oildri. I didn't realize that the link I had was oildri/proschoice. I didn't actually say SMS was discontinue but rather that I thought it wasn't being produced in Charcoal anymore. If you go to the proschoice web page and look under the products link you will see their description. It clearly states that SMS is red. It makes no mention that it is available in Charcoal anymore. I know that the charcoal was becoming more difficult to find. There is apparently still a lot of red in Lesco's system. Just put two and two together. I may be wrong and it doesn't add up to 4 this time though. LOL

http://www.oildri.com/proschoice/


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## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

That would really suck I like the black SMS more than the red. I know that here in Kansas City
the Royals use allot of the black so it's still pretty easy to find.

I guess it's time to stock pile.


EDIT: I just checked the website and it's still there, it's the "Select Premium" bag with the wrong
picture. It's been like that for years but for $7.70 a bag it's best I byy the rest of the pallet just
to be safe.

- Brad


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

that sucks, the black grows plants way better than the red, I have 4 55's with black sms and 4 55's with red sms and the black ALWAYS grows bunch plants better than the red for some reason. i mostly use the red for non nutrient demanding plants like echinodorus or anubias


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## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

jazzlvr123 said:


> that sucks, the black grows plants way better than the red, I have 4 55's with black sms and 4 55's with red sms and the black ALWAYS grows bunch plants better than the red for some reason. i mostly use the red for non nutrient demanding plants like echinodorus or anubias


That's probably because the red SMS has a moisture retaining additive to keep ball fields from getting
to water logged. The difference between the two that I can find is that one additive.

- Brad


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

I'd been looking all over the place for SoilMaster and was getting very frustrated (I live in FL, so couldn't figure out what the problem was?) so I finally contacted OilDri. This is the email they sent me:

Hi,

Thank you for contacting us. We appreciate your interest in Pro's Choice
products.

Pro's Choice Select - Charcoal is being discontinued for business reasons,
and it is no longer being produced.

As we do not have a similar product to recommend, we must refer you to
LESCO, a nationwide network of stores - who carry a comparable product:
Turface Pro League Gray, at $23 for a 50 lb bag. www.lesco.com

Thank you,

Paula


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