Red Cloudy Water

[sstafford]

I am setting up my first planted aquarium. 10g. I rinsed the laterite thoroughly, but when I filled up the tank the water was so cloudy I couldn't even see through it. I figured that it would eventually settle back down, but it's been two days and there is very little improvement. Should I empty it and rinse it better or just let it settle down?

[rich311k]

I believe the laterite needs to be under a layer of gravel, not used as the sole substrate. It is clay and I imagine the water is going to stay cloudy a long time. I would empty the tank add a layer of fine gravel over the laterite and fill the tank again.

[Purrbox]

Rich is correct. Laterite is not a substrate, but rather a nutrient rich supplement for substrates. If this is what you used, you're going to need to empty the aquarium and start over with an actual substrate. As I recall it's more of a yellow color than red.

Did you use Flourite by chance? It's very easy to think you've rinsed it sufficiently and then find out that it could have used more rinsing. Unfortunately it's just plain dusty. I'd recommend doing a water change, or two, or three to get most of the dust out of the water and to avoid clogging up your filter too badly. When refilling be carefull to pour the water onto an object or your hand to avoid stirring up the stubstrate more. Once you get it to just somewhat dusty, then go ahead a play the waiting game. After awhile it'll settle down and the water will clear. Each time you plant it you're going to cloud the water up again, but it'll be less severe and won't last as long each time.

[sstafford]

When it says rinse the laterite, does it mean wash it clean or just give it a rinse? I mixed my some gravel in with the laterite and then put a thin layer of gravel on top. Im going to have to change my water, obviously. I think I may have poured the water in the tank too aggressively. Also, I havent been running the filter cause I was afraid of clogging it/getting it too dirty too fast, w/e. This would obvi speed up the process, but worth it?

[pitt420dude]

About a week ago I took out my gravel substrate of my already established and stocked tank 55 gal and replaced it with a plant substrate called SoilMaster Select, made by Pro's Choice (which is owned by OilDri IIRC).

IT WAS A MESS! It was really bad. I took a 3 gallon bucket, filled it a third w/ the substrate, and in my tub I filled it while mixing, mixed a while longer then dumped it out. I repeated this so I did it three times total for each batch. The first couple of batches I rinsed a lot more but stopped noticing any increase in clarity. I think the mere mixing of it was making it dusty so I stopped at 3 times rinsed.

I guess I did about 10 batches before all 50lbs was in and it was sooo cloudy I couldnt see halfway into the tank. I was really worreid about all of my fish b/c it was sooooo thick w/ dust. I did about a 50% PWC that night and it helped.

By morning, the tank was crystal clear until I did some more "construction" lol. It was never as bad as it was the first time though. Just getting it rinsed and in is the major issue. Once that is done, and the particles have a chance to settle, it should never be that bad again.

This wasn't laterite, which is cloudier, but the theory works the same.

I would definitely run your filter, but just clean it like once a day for two or three days. It really helps catching all those suspended particles. It will get "full" w/ debris quickly, but hey, cloudyness caught in your filter and rinsed down the sink beats cloudiness still in your tank right?

I'd suggest keep rinsing out your gunked up filters, let the water settle and over time the cloudiness will go away, and keep up the PWC's to replace those gallons of cloudy water with gallons of (dechlorinated of course) crystal clear water.

[rich311k]

I would empty the tank, add some more gravel on to the top, to be sure none of the laterite is exposed. I would then refill carefully so as not to disturb the substrate and then turn the filter on. Hopefully no more of the clay will get stirred up and your water will clear quickly.

[sstafford]

Pitt Dude, I actually did the same thing as you. I cam from an established tank and I had the same issue while rinsing it. After like 10 times of rinsing and dumping, I was like, "Its never going to stop!" and just put it in the tank. I need to get more gravel before I can redo it all, but thanks for all the advice everybody!

[sstafford]

Emptied it completely, filled it up and it looks nice. Thanks guys.