Flourite Gravel

[Mardel]

Does the 'dust' cause a problem for the fish? I have just set up a 20 gal and added the Flourite gravel (after washing and washing). It's been more than 24 hours and the dust had settled, but I added some plants and the dust is swirling again. I'm afraid to add any fish. Should I place some other type of gravel on top of the Flourite?

 

[HN1]

It will be fine for the fish. Flourite just takes a long time to settle and will "re-dust" as you witnessed for quite awhile. Some extra filter floss in your filter(s) should help to clear it up quickly.

 

[Mardel]

Great suggestion! Thanks very much! Mardel

 

[meegosh]

Sometimes a gravel vacuum will help get rid of some of the dust. I did this with my sand when I added it. Just swirl it above the substrate and it will pull up the lighter stuff that tends to float around when disturbed.

 

[Mardel]

Hi Steve, How does it work? Won't it take out the water also?

 

[meegosh]

Yes it will take out some water but you can do it as maintenance when you do your water changes. You can never have too many water changes!

 

[Mardel]

The dust has settled and I finally got the ph where I wanted it by moving 1 gallon of the water from the old 12 gallon tank into the new 20 gallon tank and then moving 1 gallon from the new tank into the old tank! In this way my two angelfish became acclamated to the ph, which is now around 7.2. It took a few hours, but they've now settled in to the new tank and they've had their first "lunch" of frozen Brine Shrimp and see to be quite happy.

 

[HN1]

Very cool! Some people might not believe you without pics though. Subtle hint.

 

[Mardel]

I was looking around on the photo forum but didn't figure out how to post a picture. I can take the photo and upload it to Photobucket apparently, and I then copy the URL? and put it where? How do I get my photo on the forum?

 

[JustOneMore20]

You can upload it to photobucket and them copy and paste the url with IMG by it. Or you can just upload the pic to the post from your computer...just hit post reply and go down where you see manage attachments. Click that and it will give you the browse button to find your pic.

 

[Mardel]

I just pasted the URL using ImageShack and help from my husband. It should post later after the moderator approves it. Enjoyed your beautiful pics.

 

[meegosh]

Looks nice! Your angel looks similar to mine but a lot smaller. How old is he/she?

 

[Mardel]

Angelfish

There are two Angelfish. I bought them last year when they were about the size of a nickel and luckilyone i s a female and the one you can see in the front is the male. She has laid egges 3 times and last week I watched him fertilize them. Unfortunately, within two days they eat all the eggs.

 

[meegosh]

Give them a few more tries and I'm sure you'll have some wrigglers. Seems like angels can be great parents or extremely horrible. Sometimes it takes them a while to get their routine down.

 

[Mardel]

This flourite gravel is not very heavy so it does not hold down the plants very well. I'm considering placing some other type of gravel over the flourite to give more weight. Trying to vacuum out some uneaten food causes the plants to float up. Any suggestions?

 

[meegosh]

It sounds like the plants aren't rooted far enough down or your vacuuming way too deep. I typically just swirl my gravel vac around about 1"-2" above the substrate and it sucks up all the detritus.

 

[Mardel]

I only have about 1-1/2 to 2" of the Flourite so maybe I need more gravel?!!

 

[meegosh]

Most planted people aim for around 3" of substrate. This provides room for the roots to form - and not get tangled a jumbled mess. It still happens with the greater depth but not as bad, imo.