Should I? Or should I not?

[sonoralinda]

Thurs. I used four bags of fluorite in my 75 gal. tank. The bag said not necessary to prewash but a quick rinse is up to you. Well I didn't want to rinse all the good minerals and stuff out of it so I put it straight in, planted heavy, (every 3" there's a plant) and took hours to fill it. I have emptied it and refilled it 4 times in the past 5 days. Every time it's filled, it's pretty clear then the next day it's like a foggy day where you can't see the house across the street. Today it's not quite as bad. I have an AC110 on it. My advice to anyone would be to rinse, rinse, rinse! I don't know how long this is going to last but it's disheartening! Newbie, sonoralinda

[msawdey]

Originally Posted by owens81jw

I SAW SOMEONE ON this forum said they using an old pillowcase n ran that thru water for 15mins

that may have been me :-)..... especially wash if you have the sand... when you put it into the tank, you will understand why

[altiuscitius]

I used 3 bags of fluorite black sand in a 25gallon. I lightly rinsed the bottom two bags, and I rinsed the hell out of the 3rd bag and used it to cap the mildly washed stuff.

The tank still got cloudy when filling up, but settled in a day, and I have no issues a year and 2 major rescapes later. When my cories dig during feeding time they stir up a slight grey plume of dust that dissipates quickly.

The general consensus from all of my reading was wash it all, but it wont get 100% clear. The water pressure from the hose or whatever will knock some particles off of the clay pieces and make the water cloudy. You just want to get the water running off from your bucket to 85% clear and then move on.

[xiaoxiy]

Man, this thread got lost and I couldn't find it.

I washed mine in a bucket in half bag batches.

Originally Posted by Low_t Tom

Don't wash it, lightly rinse it once and put it in the tank (if you wash it you are washing all the things you want down the drain, and should just use standard gravel instead). Fill tank VERY slowly! Make sure you have a thin gravel cap on top of it to allow the fish to do their thing without disturbing the stuff.

I don't think that's true. We use fluorite because it has a high CEC, or cation exchange capacity. Not because there's anything special in the fluorite, although I do concede that there are some trace minerals and metals (iron and such).

[Option]

Originally Posted by Wolf19

Simple question related to this topic...

Do I need to 'cycle' black fluorite prior to planting, or can I begin planting after rinsing and having the substrate in the tank?

You can plant right away, no problem. Cycling is to prep for the fish, shrimp, or any other fauna you intend on adding to the tank....that are all sensitive to the nitrogen cycle status.

As for rinsing flourite...I only rinse lightly once or twice. There is no point in vigoursly washing it over and over since the substrate is so fine as it is that it will cloud your water no matter what on the first addition of water. I have used flourite the most out of all substrates (btw it's the best out there IMO) and it always clouds the water initially after the first add no matter how much I rinse it.