# Flourite question.



## asincero (Mar 25, 2006)

I'm in the midst of setting up a 10g planted aquarium, and I'm experimenting a bit with Flourite substrate since I read substrates designed specifically for planted tanks would be better than just straight up plain gravel. After I rinsed it out, I put it in the tank, filled the tank up, put the filter in, and let it run for a while. The tank was initially really, really, cloudy. But the package said that its normal for the water to be cloudy initially. I put some Accu-Clear in the water to help the filter clear it up faster.

After about an hour, the water started looking clearer. Still not crystal clear though. Just to see what would happen, I used my finger to disturb a small section of the substrate. A column of dirt climbed up from the little crater I made with my finger and proceeded to cloud the water again.

I thought this was interesting. If it got that cloudy with a little disturbance from my finger, whats going to happen when I do a full fledged gravel vac of the tank? It'll get cloudy again!

So, my question is ... is this normal? Did I not rinse out the Flourite well enough? I strained the stuff through a colander until the water that ran out of it was semi-clear. I figured that was good enough. Should I try rinsing it out again? Or will it not matter how much I rinse it out, it'll always be this cloudy?

The LFS also had bags of Eco-Complete. From the looks of it, it didn't seem as dusty as the Flourite. Is that stuff any better?


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## acbaldwin (Nov 3, 2005)

Flourite is a biatch to rinse. I had 60 pounds of it in a tank and after rinsing for an hour and a half the waterr was semi-clear, and after I put it in the tank I experienced the same as you. 6 months later, any tie I had to replant anything deeper than 1 1/2 inches I got cloudy water and sediment settling on the plants.
I switched to 50 pounds of year-old used eco-complete, and IT ROCKS. The stuff feels, looks, and holds plants like regular garden soil, looks great, and is better for the smaller plants. I don't have a "red cloud" every time I plant something, either!
Flourite isn't too bad, you just gotta rinse it out, and then rinse it out again.


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

I remember the effect When the tank has been running for some weeks this will not happen anymore, the bottom settles.


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## nid (Mar 27, 2006)

About two months ago I used Flourite for the first time in an 18 gallon tank. I had read about the Red cloud effect it can cause and because of this I decided not to use it. Luckily I stumbled upon a thread in another forum describing how to avoid the cloudiness.

If you rinse the Flourite really well and then dry it thoroughly you can minimise this effect. I tried this, it took me 25 mins to rinse one bag thoroughly. It is the middle of winter here and very cold outside, but even so I risked frostbite and used the garden hose to rinse the flourite in small batches in a shallow tray. I then laid it out inside on a table on an old sheet. it took 3 days to dry.

When it was thoroughly dry I put it in the tank and carefully poured water onto a plate to minimise the disturbance to the substrate. within 3 hours the tank was absolutely clear with the fish happily swimming around over their new substrate. I can plant and gravel vac with not even a hint of a red cloud.

Its lovely stuff, it looks great and my plants are growing beautifully in it. I like it so much I am going to resubstrate from gravel to Flourite my 40 gallon tank. 

It seems like a lot of hassle but rinsing and drying it, is definetly worth the effort in the long run. 

Cheers, Karen.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Heck, I don't even rinse it. See here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mizmo.../pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mizmo_naomi/my_photos

And last year, I did the same with two bags of Flourite when I set up my 20, and had the same result. However, it might not be an option if it's raining where you are, as it is here  . I did this during the summer  .

Stick with the Flourite, though. It's a decent substrate. And if you're not particularly keen on its looks, just grow a lot of groundcover :lol: .

-Naomi


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## nid (Mar 27, 2006)

Am I right in understanding that you just dried it without rinsing and it was fine?

Have you had any problems with red dust clouds when planting if you havent rinsed it?

If you havent I probably wont bother to rinse it when I do my 40 gall. The very fine dust rinsed away is probably a loss to the plant roots.

Cheers, Karen.


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

nid said:


> Am I right in understanding that you just dried it without rinsing and it was fine?


Yes. Didn't waste a single drop of water... One person theorized that as the substrate is drying, the dust particles get sucked into the pores of the larger pieces of Flourite so it's slightly harder to "cloud it up" when re-hydrated. I guess that's a good an explanation as any  . You should still be as gentle as possible when you pour the water into the tank.

Mind you, it has to be *bone-dry*. And when you add back the water, you'll hear "sizzling," sort of like when you first rinse activated carbon.



> Have you had any problems with red dust clouds when planting if you havent rinsed it?


Well, not really "problems," but one interesting thing that happens is that at first, bubbles get trapped in the interstices (voids) between the grains of the Flourite pieces. When you disturb it, like while planting or whatever, these bubbles float up, carrying with it the finest particles of dust. At the surface, they pop and leave a thin, immiscible "film" of dust that just floats around, sort of the way surface scum does. So you may need to skim the surface somewhat frequently in the beginning, but I really prefer that over dealing with muddy water that persists for days.



> If you havent I probably wont bother to rinse it when I do my 40 gall. The very fine dust rinsed away is probably a loss to the plant roots.


Yeah, call me stingy and lazy... I see rinsing as a major waste of water, although some people might find a quick hose-down beneficial (but I'm too lazy  ). A few claim that they had extra-dusty bags of Flourite, and the "drying method" didn't work for them. I suspect they didn't get it dry enough or maybe they weren't careful in adding the water. Anyway, YMMV.

Oh - one thing - when you're putting the dried Flourite into your tank, *wear a face mask* or *something* to cover your nose/mouth. The fine dust will get kicked up and you don't want to breathe that in!!! That was one little problem I encountered when I was setting up my 20-gallon tank.

Happy planting with your 40  .

-Naomi


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## nid (Mar 27, 2006)

I will be changing the substrate in the next month or so. I think I will probably give it a quick rinse this time, just to remove the worst of the dust.

Thanks for the good advice,

Karen.


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## mrbelvedere138 (Jan 18, 2006)

Use a colander over a bucket. Very efficient way of rinsing fluorite.


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## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

I don't have flourite in my tank now, but have in the past.

If I were to use it again I would actually go buy a framed window screen from one of the home impromement stores to lay this stuff on while rinsing it. I used the colander method and it took me close to an hour to do one bag - and I still wasn't happy with the results.


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