If fluorite sand hasn't settled yet can I still plant my plants and put starter fish

[Asialaraine]

I just started up my 10 gl tank. It's been running a week with fluorite and there are some snails in there. I just bought live plants, fluorite sand ( my original stuff was courser) and 5 starter fish....however they failed to mention when I purchased the sand that it could take days to settle. So now I'm worried about my plants and fish. Do I add them to the tank with out the dust settling.? Will they be ok?

 

[tomtom14]

If the majority of the sand has settled then it should be ok. But if most of it hasn't settled it could effect the fishes gills badly. The plants will be fine but if you plant them it will cause more sand agitation. I would add the plants and add the fish when it's all settled.

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

I started with eco complete 24 hrs ago and mine is still cloudy, too. It must be the plant addatives that cloud things up. ( I'm running filter and sanitizer and I did put my plants in. I'll update you if I lose any. )

Are you putting your root tabs in now or later? (I wasn't sure when those get added for the first time. )

 

[Asialaraine]

I'm not sure what root tabs are. As far as I know they gave me everything I needed.

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

If fluorite sand hasn't settled yet can I still plant my plants and put start...

This is my remedial understanding, some plant eat fertilizer via their leaves and some plants eat fertilizer via their roots. So, in a planted tank you use micro and macro fertilizers ( API Leaf zone & Seachem Flourish Complete; can't dose on same day it messes up the iron) and root tabs. The plants also need CO2 ( some people don't add extra if they got easy plants, some do sugar, water & yeast to make CO2, some use canisters of compressed CO2). The fish give them nitrates and fish food gives phosphorous. And, the light over the tank for photosynthesis. That's everything I've learned so far, except API root tabs messed up my water. It went cloudy and stayed cloudy. I haven't heard any bad things about Seachem's root tabs.

Almost forgot, fertilize in the morning and CO2 in daytime. I guess at night the plants use oxygen so that's when you put the airstone on.

 

[Mebbid]

That's a pretty basic explanation of plants but is pretty much right on the dot

Could you post a pic of what's going on with the sand? There shouldn't be any actual sand that hasn't settled but rather dirt from the sand that is clouding the water. Water changes will generally get rid of it.

How did you wash the flourite?