Fluourite - Boy is my tank cloudy

"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...
Well, the tank cleared up overnight. That litle nanofilter works
surprisingly well. I was awful glad to hear that I didn't do something
wrong. I guess I need to keep 2 filter pads in the nanofilter for a while
since I've got some more plants coming in and I'll have to stir up the bed
of Fluorite some to plant them.

Now that the water has cleared up, I like the look of the substrate a lot.
It looks better in the water than in the bag. I sure hope it helps to
grow plants as well as it's supposed to.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

You proved the point, the more you screw with fluorite the more fines you
get.

As I've said before, I switched substrate in one of my 55's to fluorite by
setting the bags on end in a half full tank, slitting the bottom and let is
slide out slowly. 1/3 of the tank at a time. With two Emporor 270's, I
added Acurel F, rinsed pads every 4 hours and it was nearly clear by
bedtime, completely clear by morning. Standard old fiber pads, stock less
the carbon and one in the second plastic holder that comes with the unit.
None of the clear chemical flocculents seem to work as well. A lot cheaper
and less hassle that a diatom filter.
Incidentally, the same treatment will clear green water too and and if you
move fast to correct the basic problem, you've got it cured. I've got a
second tank with an older laterite based substrate that has way more
problems with staying stable than my fluorite tank.

Bob

Elaine T wrote:
I saw this fab 2 gal planted tank at LFS and it inspired me to yank the
UGF from Squishy's 2 gallon hex and put on a Red Sea nanofilter and
Fluorite substrate. Lighting is a 14 watt 5500K spiral compact
flourescent that seems plenty bright over a tank this tiny.

But OMG - I rinsed and rinsed my fluorite and it never did rinse clear.
I finally gave up and set up the tank and the water is STILL cloudy an
hour later. Will this mess actually filter out? I put a second pad in
the filter, but it only seems to be getting a little bit better. Squishy
is annoyed and I don't blame him.

Also, is this cloud going to reappear every time I move a plant or
replant stem plants? If so, I'm returning the bag of flourite I bought
for the 15 gallon that I have on order and using only Eco Complete.
Fluorite is beautiful, but only when you can see it!

Don't return the bag of Fluorite. The late Vicki Costley wrote an
article on how to wash Fluorite and I've followed her advice at least a
half dozen times with perfect success and almost zero cloudy water. The
drying stage is critical. Here's the link to Vicki's website and the
Fluorite washing instruction page. Vicki is deeply missed but her words
and wisdom live on.

http://www.vickisaquaticplace.com/fluorite.html

Cheers,
Steve H.

Steve Hampton wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

I saw this fab 2 gal planted tank at LFS and it inspired me to yank
the UGF from Squishy's 2 gallon hex and put on a Red Sea nanofilter
and Fluorite substrate. Lighting is a 14 watt 5500K spiral compact
flourescent that seems plenty bright over a tank this tiny.

But OMG - I rinsed and rinsed my fluorite and it never did rinse
clear. I finally gave up and set up the tank and the water is STILL
cloudy an hour later. Will this mess actually filter out? I put a
second pad in the filter, but it only seems to be getting a little bit
better. Squishy is annoyed and I don't blame him.

Also, is this cloud going to reappear every time I move a plant or
replant stem plants? If so, I'm returning the bag of flourite I
bought for the 15 gallon that I have on order and using only Eco
Complete. Fluorite is beautiful, but only when you can see it!

Don't return the bag of Fluorite. The late Vicki Costley wrote an
article on how to wash Fluorite and I've followed her advice at least a
half dozen times with perfect success and almost zero cloudy water. The
drying stage is critical. Here's the link to Vicki's website and the
Fluorite washing instruction page. Vicki is deeply missed but her words
and wisdom live on.

http://www.vickisaquaticplace.com/fluorite.html

Cheers,
Steve H.

Thanks so much for the link. I have hope now. I do love the look of
fluorite and it seems a simpler, more natural substrate than Eco
Complete. I'm always suspicious of something that claims to buffer my
water...

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

I would be too. What does that have to do with eco complete? It claims to
be inert, not a buffer. Anyway, have you ever used eco complete? I really
like the look it gives a tank. That was the #1 reason why I chose it for my
last change for the 20 gallon.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/200302152...qs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

Margolis wrote:
I would be too. What does that have to do with eco complete? It claims to
be inert, not a buffer. Anyway, have you ever used eco complete? I really
like the look it gives a tank. That was the #1 reason why I chose it for my
last change for the 20 gallon.

It says it's packed in "Liquid Amazon" buffered blackwater. That's what
stuck in my mind. You're right that it has no long term buffering. It
does release calcium, which I'm not sure I want in my hard water.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

**** eco complete!
"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...
I saw this fab 2 gal planted tank at LFS and it inspired me to yank the UGF
from Squishy's 2 gallon hex and put on a Red Sea nanofilter and Fluorite
substrate. Lighting is a 14 watt 5500K spiral compact flourescent that
seems plenty bright over a tank this tiny.

But OMG - I rinsed and rinsed my fluorite and it never did rinse clear. I
finally gave up and set up the tank and the water is STILL cloudy an hour
later. Will this mess actually filter out? I put a second pad in the
filter, but it only seems to be getting a little bit better. Squishy is
annoyed and I don't blame him.

Also, is this cloud going to reappear every time I move a plant or replant
stem plants? If so, I'm returning the bag of flourite I bought for the 15
gallon that I have on order and using only Eco Complete. Fluorite is
beautiful, but only when you can see it!

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

"Scott Far Thunder" wrote in message
...
**** eco complete!

Does this mean you don't like the product then?
--
"In the beginning, God said the four-dimensional divergence of an
antisymmetric,
second rank tensor equals zero, and there was Light , and it was good."

Scott Far Thunder wrote:
**** eco complete!

Is Eco Complete not good to use? I'd like to hear a bit more detail if
you've had bad experiences with it.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

i've been using fluorite for 4 years now in my low tech planted 29G;
got the cloudiness every time I replanted or had a vigorous water
change or my cichlid dug, literally took 3 years or so before that
problem was gone. never washed; though I did hear about it, isn't the
whole point of fluorite to find fine and coarse particles. I probably
still have a lot of 'silt' in the bottom.

the thing is the stuff is pretty brittle so when dry it makes a lot of
dust just from the friction. sea chem apparently has some competing
product; never tried.

the particles of fluorite also seem to be too light since it is porous
clay and it's pretty easy for a determined fish to dig up my
sagittaria, on the whole the plants seem to like it though.

not a perfect product by any stretch of the imagination; but it works.
______
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