# Soilmaster Select = dusty!!



## junco (Sep 8, 2006)

Well I seem to have made the mistake of (attempting to) rinse my Soilmaster substrate before putting it in. The tank is now completely cloudy... has been sitting overnight to try and let it settle and is still cloudy.

What's the best way to remedy this? Let it settle as much as I can and then vaccuum it out, do a complete water chagne?

Mix it up as much as I can and do a complete water change?

Run the filter? (This just seemed to make it worse as it didn't seem to allow the dust to settle)

Please don't tell me I should empty it all out and use the other 25 lbs I still have that hasn't been rinsed.

For those that use this, does it not make the tank cloudy whenever you plant or uproot things?

Thanks in advance!


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

I'd say you're in for a couple of water changes. I treated Soilmaster Select like I would Flourite and cleaned the heck out of it first. Generally 5 rinses in the bucket with me mixing things up had it as clean as I needed it.

So my recommendation is to stir it up and water change.


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## milalic (Aug 26, 2005)

Some charcoal in your filter and a few water changes.

-Pedro


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## Aquadise (Jul 26, 2006)

It will settle if you have a filter, give it about 1 week and it will be crystal clear. Rinsing it is a waste of time, it just rubs on to one another and make more dust.


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## aquabum (Aug 16, 2006)

It may be too late for you now and it may not pertain to this product but here's my view either way. I have used Turface (the red stuff) in a number of aquariums and several ponds. The stuff ranges from very fine to very coarse in the same bag. I built a sift with a couple of 2x4s, some stainless steel mesh, screws, and staples. While it was dry, and with GOOD dust protection, I sifted it back and fourth with a friend's assistance. The dust tends to blow away, the fine stuff falls to the floor, and the coarse stays in the sift. A fan pointing at the sifter may get rid of more of the dust but I have never tried it. I have found that in the long run, it saves many water changes and gives me a nice, uniform substrate.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Did you use Soilmaster Select or the regular Soilmaster? Soilmaster Select has a small and very similar grain size 

I did not rinse my Soilmaster Select at all before I added it to my tank. I had relatively little clouding on filling the tank and no clouding/dust when uprooting plants shortly after planting. See this thread

Running the filter will probably keep the dust in suspension and unless you have a very fine filter it will not remove it. A fine filter (such as a micron filter on a Magnum 350 or HOT Magnum) will probably clog very fast and may not come clean afterwards.

To help with the clarification of the tank, I would turn off the filter, overnight at least, and let the dust settle. If overnight is not enough to see some clearing in the tank, leave the filter off longer. Then I would do a gravel vac, barely skimming the surface of the substrate to remove as much dust as possible. My Soilmaster Select does not go up my gravel vac when placed close to the substrate but I am not sure how "heavy" the regular Soilmaster is so use some caution while skimming the surface.


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## junco (Sep 8, 2006)

Well I let the dust settle, vaccuumed the dust of the top of the gravel, and did 2 complete water changes. It looks pretty clear right now, but I've tried a "simulated planting" where I pretend to be planting things and see how it looks after. VERY cloudy. Can't even see through the tank when I'm done. So I do another water change... looks great. Do another "simulated planting"... same thing. Incredibly cloudy and murky. I fear I need to take all of the substrate out and put the other half of the 50# bag I have in there, unrinsed.

Who would have known that rinsing Soilmaster Select makes it unusable???


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

I would try planting the tank without water or at least have the water line below the thinnest area of substrate. You can use declorinated water in a spray bottle to keep the plants moist while you plant. Then you fill the tank, starting out very slowly untill the water level is up past any of the substrate. After you have the water surface up clear of the substrate a bit you can gradually increase the fill rate. As long as the flow is circulating the water around the tank and not directed at the gravel the dust in even unwashed SMS will stay in the gravel. I did have just a small amount come up, but it didn't really change how visible things were in the tank once it was full and circulation going.

It isn't untill there is a bio film around the particles of the substrate that you will stop getting great clouds of dust when disturbing the planting medium. That doesn't happen until it has been in use for a bit so any new plantings have to be done without water or you get Soilmaster soup.


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

junco,

How's the planting going? Did you manage to get past your problems with the dustiness?

Don't worry, Soilmaster DOES get better and easier to work with. 

I don't think you ruined the Soilmaster by rinsing it, that's just the way Soilmaster is. In my opinion Soilmaster SHOULD be rinsed at least several times. Its true that you can't remove all the tiniest sand-like particles but most of the lightest dust can be eliminated. I know some folks have done their tanks without rinsing, but you've got to be so careful. And as you've seen, if/when you move stuff you'll kick up a storm.

As Snakeice has said you can plant with the water level very low to overcome the dust storm and visibility problem. Or, I've also gotten around this by planting with the water level high enough to run my filters. Any dust I've made is almost instantly removed by the water flow. Of course this only works if you have a non-bypass canister filter like the Rena XPs or Magnum H.O.T. (You'll need a few bath towels too ) 

I have Soilmaster in my 75g tank and its lightness does create certain challenges. Its true that as the substrate ages, most of the air leaves and a biofilm (gunk) builds up. But still it can be hard to get some things to stay put. 

Here's a few of my tricks: 
-- Yes, I do use plant weights with more buoyant plants.
-- I plant stems into the substrate not vertically but angled at 45 degrees thru the substrate. In other words, below the substrate the stem is diagonal, but once it hits the water column it naturally returns to straight up and down. Except for some of the thick stemmed plants most have enough flexibility.
--For a sword I've layed a small 2" clay pot shard on top of the substrate, one on each side, at the base of the leaves. After a few weeks when enough roots have developed you can take out the weights.
--Lastly, I did add one bag of Onyx Sand by Seachem sprinkled carefully as a top layer. This gave my mix just a little weight while the Soilmaster aged. Though as the Onyx is so heavier as I move stuff it is no longer the top layer.

Initially I was very frustrated. Now I find its ultra easy to work with.


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## junco (Sep 8, 2006)

Things are much better now. There is still cloudiness when planting, but not nearly as much as before. It's manageable.

Lighter plants are a challenge... I ended up using a few lead weights myself. 

Things are looking good now, just need to wait for it to fill in!


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