will flourite cloudiness hurt fish and plants?

hchance · 02-21-2004, 01:15 PM

Well you may be right there, but I did break down the tank and it looks a lot better. I haven't had any problems since. I guess whatever works for ya.

jason60640 · 02-27-2004, 12:56 PM

I can empathize with this guy who doesn't want a coudy tank, but there's got to be a better solution than breaking down a tank. There are folks out there who use pure laterite, sterilized potting soil, and other fine substrates. When I rinsed my flourite, I tried keeping as much as the fine sediment while getting rid of the fine dust. It is this fine sediment that will probably really benefit the plants in the end.

The cloudiness is aesthetically hard to take, but I would approach a similar situation with lots of water changes--not breaking down a system. There are other problems your tank might go through--snails, algae blooms, etc. If you break down your tank each time something happens, you will never have a biologically sound tank. It's not a betta bowl that you can just rinse whenever it gets cloudy.

That being said, I suggest investing in a better filter than the Emperor and not getting so upset each time your tank clouds up because of planting. This "silt" created by residual dust and fine particles is beneficial to the plants.

-Jason

hchance · 02-27-2004, 02:07 PM

Jason--
I know breaking down the tank is a drastic move. I know I hated every minute. But the only reason I went that route was because I had my tank going only for a week, so I doubt there was much of a bioload yet. My tank was soooo cloudy, that you couldn't see anything in there, and every plant was covered in red dust. I would've had to remove them and clean them anyway.
My emperor filter was not even touching the cloud. It was terrible. I ended up replacing it with a Filstar and it does well.
I have recently added a bag of eco-complete to the top layer of flourite to keep the dust down. But I will tell ya that after this experience if I ever set up another tank I won't use flourite. Too messy.
But that's my opinion. I have just learned the hard (and expensive) way.
I'm glad that I found this forum because I have learned so much !
Thanks!

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02-21-2004, 01:15 PM	#16
hchance Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jackson, MI Posts: 52	Well you may be right there, but I did break down the tank and it looks a lot better. I haven't had any problems since. I guess whatever works for ya.

02-27-2004, 12:56 PM	#17
jason60640 Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Chicago Posts: 15	I can empathize with this guy who doesn't want a coudy tank, but there's got to be a better solution than breaking down a tank. There are folks out there who use pure laterite, sterilized potting soil, and other fine substrates. When I rinsed my flourite, I tried keeping as much as the fine sediment while getting rid of the fine dust. It is this fine sediment that will probably really benefit the plants in the end. The cloudiness is aesthetically hard to take, but I would approach a similar situation with lots of water changes--not breaking down a system. There are other problems your tank might go through--snails, algae blooms, etc. If you break down your tank each time something happens, you will never have a biologically sound tank. It's not a betta bowl that you can just rinse whenever it gets cloudy. That being said, I suggest investing in a better filter than the Emperor and not getting so upset each time your tank clouds up because of planting. This "silt" created by residual dust and fine particles is beneficial to the plants. -Jason

02-27-2004, 02:07 PM	#18
hchance Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jackson, MI Posts: 52	Jason-- I know breaking down the tank is a drastic move. I know I hated every minute. But the only reason I went that route was because I had my tank going only for a week, so I doubt there was much of a bioload yet. My tank was soooo cloudy, that you couldn't see anything in there, and every plant was covered in red dust. I would've had to remove them and clean them anyway. My emperor filter was not even touching the cloud. It was terrible. I ended up replacing it with a Filstar and it does well. I have recently added a bag of eco-complete to the top layer of flourite to keep the dust down. But I will tell ya that after this experience if I ever set up another tank I won't use flourite. Too messy. But that's my opinion. I have just learned the hard (and expensive) way. I'm glad that I found this forum because I have learned so much ! Thanks!