Flourite vs floramax?

[Paxdaddy]

Is one better than the other? And why? Thanks in advance!

 

[aqua_chem]

They are about the same. It's mostly a texture and manufacturer difference rather than a profound difference in quality.

 

[jetajockey]

I'd go with floramax since it's got more of a hard gravel texture, but yeah the result should be the same.

 

[Paxdaddy]

Thanks guys. I saw a guy on YouTube comparing them and they looked almost identical.

 

[jetajockey]

I just put a tank together with oil dri. I bought a little bit of new stuff but ended up using some year+ old oil dri/soil mix from another tank. I put it over a screen and rinsed all the soil out of it first and it is still in surprisingly good shape. A good alternative if you are budget minded, I recall paying about $8 bucks or so for a 25lb bag.

 

[Paxdaddy]

I just put a tank together with oil dri. I bought a little bit of new stuff but ended up using some year+ old oil dri/soil mix from another tank. I put it over a screen and rinsed all the soil out of it first and it is still in surprisingly good shape. A good alternative if you are budget minded, I recall paying about $8 bucks or so for a 25lb bag.

I've heard of using oil dri. How does it look in the tank? I thought I read it messes with your ph. Is that true?

 

[jetajockey]

It does soak up ca/mg as well as other nutrients, but that's the reason why it's in there to begin with.

This is not much of a concern with regular fert dosing, another option is the addition of crushed coral/aragonite, or it could possibly soften a naturally hard water source if needed.