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276 Posts
Many years ago I had the regular red Fluorite in my 10Gal low tech and really liked what it did for the plants...but at some point after that any Corys I kept would suffer from disappearing whiskers and at the time there was a prevalent notion on the web that the Fluorite was “sharp” and thus to blame. I covered it with a layer of super fine black gravel (Hagen GeoWhatever), but over time it just blended and the red Fluorite came to the top and it looked stupid more than anything.
Without re-questioning that old notion, I strained out all the Fluorite a couple months ago as part of a tank reboot (it had been almost a year without inhabitants), so I only have very fine gravel. Plants are not doing well. The new leaves on the Jungle Val, although growing 1/2” a day, are anemic. I’m sure its because they are getting nothing from the gravel.
All this to say that I was going to just flip the whole smash (again) for the Fluorite SAND but when I saw a bag today at the LFS two things hit me:
1) it is a LOT finer than I thought it would be. I wonder if anaerobic bacteria (and the infamous poison gas) is going to be an issue.
2) Even though its finer, it is ultimately the same stuff and potentially "sharp" (or whatever), though I don't know if that was ever asserted beyond the anecdotal.
PS I did do a search of the forum before posting so please forgive if this particular angle has been discussed before by the old guard.
Without re-questioning that old notion, I strained out all the Fluorite a couple months ago as part of a tank reboot (it had been almost a year without inhabitants), so I only have very fine gravel. Plants are not doing well. The new leaves on the Jungle Val, although growing 1/2” a day, are anemic. I’m sure its because they are getting nothing from the gravel.
All this to say that I was going to just flip the whole smash (again) for the Fluorite SAND but when I saw a bag today at the LFS two things hit me:
1) it is a LOT finer than I thought it would be. I wonder if anaerobic bacteria (and the infamous poison gas) is going to be an issue.
2) Even though its finer, it is ultimately the same stuff and potentially "sharp" (or whatever), though I don't know if that was ever asserted beyond the anecdotal.
PS I did do a search of the forum before posting so please forgive if this particular angle has been discussed before by the old guard.