Flourite, Excel and fish health

My aquarium society had a show this weekend and I brough in my 2gal
jungle tank. It's got about 2" of Flourite in the bottom. I'm having
problems keeping bettas in there despite all the plants and very high
water quality. I lost one, and the next is not doing very well.

One member said that 2" of Flourite in a 2g tank is too much mineralized
substrate and will leach minerals into the water column, making
sof****er fish like bettas susceptible to illnesses. She said that
other people in the club have had problems with fish in small tanks with
high mineral-content substrates. I've also been wondering about
Flourish Excel.

The discus I lost was in a 15g tank with 2.5" of 50% Flourite/50% Eco
Complete and I'm having some trouble with other fish in that tank
despite zero ammonia and nitrite, healthy plants, good filtration, and
stable water conditions. All my outdoor fish with gravel in the tank
(or plant baskets) and no Excel are doing perfectly fine, and they go
through temperature fluctuations, have less filtration, and hardly ever
get water changes.

Has anyone else noticed problems with mineralized substrates? Or
Flourish Excel?

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I have about 2+ inches of fluorite substrate in my 6 gal that contains
one crowntail betta and two African Dwarf Frogs. I haven't had any
health problems since the tank was established in October 2004. Frogs
are generally pretty sensitive too. I've been slowly converting all my
tanks to sandy bottoms but that because 1. Plants stay put better and
2. I prefer the aesthetic.

Very interesting theory though. Let us know if you hear any more about
it.

On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 07:58:02 -0800, IDzine01 wrote:

I have about 2+ inches of fluorite substrate in my 6 gal

It would be interesting to know water parameters on both tanks- a
substrate that does not leach at ph 8 might at ph 6.

~Empty

Empty wrote:
On Mon, 07 Nov 2005 07:58:02 -0800, IDzine01 wrote:


I have about 2+ inches of fluorite substrate in my 6 gal


It would be interesting to know water parameters on both tanks- a
substrate that does not leach at ph 8 might at ph 6.

~Empty

pH was 7.2 on the 15g (I mixed in half RO water and Seachem Acid
Buffer), but I've allowed it to come back up to my tapwater pH of ~7.8
since the discus died. It's always been 7.8 on the 2g and 10g guppy
tank. My tap water has 6dKH so the pH holds very stable.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com