# fluorite is the devil incarnated in a substrate



## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

:evil:

Ive had this stuff in 2 of my tanks for almost a year. When I first dumped it in, the tank was cloudy for a couple days. no woop since my tank was still cycling. recently I took down my 20 gallon because we are getting new flooring, so i took all the fluorite out. I know it says not to wash it before putting it int he tank, but this time I did. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. then I added it to my 55 gallon, and it clouded the tank up. water changes apparently dont make a lick of difference. I figured after a year, it has got to be uncloudable, i guess not. is this really bad for the fish? I remeber hearing something about it feels like "sandpaper on their gills" or something 

and on an unrelated subject. I just bought a crapload of plants off aquabid. 500 stems for $6, $10 shipping. 100 stem of anarchis, bacopa, mermaid, ludwigia, and cabomba. it pretty much fills up half of my 55 gallon completely. after I won his auctions of the same thing increased to 30 dollars http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?liveplants&1119082510

so bacopa is supposed to smell mighty minty right? when I got the package the plants were damp, and they all smelled really minty. like it put my listerine to shame. I rinsed them all off, but it didnt help much. hope the fish dont mind fresh breath.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

shev said:


> hope the fish dont mind fresh breath.


haha, thats funny shev! sorry though i dont know the anwser to your question. But that was pretty funny!!:lol:


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

shev said:


> :evil:
> 
> Ive had this stuff in 2 of my tanks for almost a year. When I first dumped it in, the tank was cloudy for a couple days. no woop since my tank was still cycling. recently I took down my 20 gallon because we are getting new flooring, so i took all the fluorite out. I know it says not to wash it before putting it int he tank, but this time I did. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. then I added it to my 55 gallon, and it clouded the tank up. water changes apparently dont make a lick of difference. I figured after a year, it has got to be uncloudable, i guess not. is this really bad for the fish? I remeber hearing something about it feels like "sandpaper on their gills" or something
> 
> ...



I'm not an expert. But i believe people usually put the flourite in the tank below the sand substrate. Not dump it in on top of the sand. I could be wrong though.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

You use laterite below sand. You can use flourite but it is a substrate itself, not an additive. It will always cloud up because of its chemical makeup (its mostly clay with iron added). It will quit clouding when its no longer in your tank. Rinsing will remove the heavy cloudyness but never all of it.


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## Aqua Essentials (Jun 23, 2005)

I'm not familiar with using sand below Flourite but perhaps things are done differently in the UK. I see no reason why you would need to use sand either though...

The clouding of your tank puzzles me somewhat - although there is always initial clouding when one uses Flourite, it should settle. Here's is a question and answer from Seachem on the subject:

Q: I have recently bought Flourite for my aquarium tank. As noted on the label, I have rinsed fourite to get rid of any dust. But after ten times of rinsing, I am still getting a dense cloud of sand in the residual water. Should I keep on washing it till the water turns clear, would that wash away any of its nutrients?

A: It is possible to experience an excess of particles/dust from this product due to frictional action in packaging and shipping. Flourite Red is an ore with a rich mineral composition and is not chemically coated. Even though some small particles washed away, the product is completely viable and will still offer the same benefit. A better way to add this to an established aquarium is to add small amounts at a time a half day to 24 hours apart making sure these small amounts are rinsed thoroughly. You can also use a water clarifier (flloculant) to clump any small free floating particles together making it easier for your mechanical filter to catch. Your cartridges/floss will tend to clog from all the particles being trapped and will need rinsing or replacing regularly.  

If you still have clouding after more than a few days, you may well be stirring it up every time you do your water changes. Perhaps you could pour your water in more gently and also use something like Seachem Clarity which works a treat


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

its not cloudy anymore, it all settled.




> A better way to add this to an established aquarium is to add small amounts at a time a half day to 24 hours apart making sure these small amounts are rinsed thoroughly.


yeah, I should have done that.

thanks


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## Aqua Essentials (Jun 23, 2005)

We live and learn!!

At least you've sorted it now


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## aquatic_dynasty (Jun 15, 2005)

I heard Eco-complete plant substrate is completely rinse and ready to use without clouding your water. It even said it on the bag. :mrgreen:


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## shev (Jan 18, 2005)

Yeah I love eco-complete. I added it to my 10 gallon tank without rinsing and it was pretty cloudy, but I just did a couple water changes and it went away.


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