Latarite/Flourite issues

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I set up my 55g four days ago and decided to go the rainbowfish/planted tank route. I actually have some turquoises, purple passion danios, and a killifish waiting to go in that tank when it's done cycling in my 36g. Anyway, I bought latarite, pea gravel, and flourite. Rinsed the latarite about 5-6 times, the latarite about 8, and the gravel 2-3 times. I put it all in my tanks and filled it up. Basically I put a swamp/mud puddle in my dining room. Under my boyfriend's supervision, we mixed it up, drained it, washed it out more, and filled it back up. Three days later, still cloudy. It's a tan/beige now instead of black coffee, but it's still an eye sore. How much longer am I looking at until it's clear?

Oh, and I ruined the first filter because it got so clogged up with the junk. On number 2 now. Thank you Petsmart for not asking question when I returned it.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

IMO the only way to clear up fluorite after putting it in, is just to be patient. What kind of filter are you using? If you can't wait at all, then you should do pwc and when adding water slowly pour it onto something like a plate

 

[fort384]

You can't really rinse it clean... it will just continue to leach. The key is to just add water slowly so you stir it up as little as possible. 4 days does seem like a long time though... I remember when I added it to an established tank it only took 2 days to clear up. I really don't know what more you could do but just have a little patience. It has to settle out eventually.... right?

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

An emperor biowheel. Yea, we did that. I have a bit of a problem being patient, I guess. I jumped into it, having no clue what I was doing and then my boyfriend had to fix it... I can see the intake tube today, which is a good sign, I'm guessing.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

Yes that's good it'll clear up

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

You can't really rinse it clean... it will just continue to leach. The key is to just add water slowly so you stir it up as little as possible. 4 days does seem like a long time though... I remember when I added it to an established tank it only took 2 days to clear up. I really don't know what more you could do but just have a little patience. It has to settle out eventually.... right?

Don't scare me! I moved into apartment and have a new roommate. I promised her it would be a pretty tank so she would let me have it out of my room. And well... a mud puddle aint pretty.

 

[Deep Seven]

If you can set up your tank with a continuous water flow in and out it will flush out the cloudy water fairly quickly. This would remove most of the particulate causing the cloudiness without overworking the filter. Just make sure the water flow coming in isn't stirring up the substrate.

Edit: I'm doing this right now with a bucket full of mud, and it went from coffee coloured to clear in about 2 hours.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Hm... that sounds interesting. But, that might push up the water bill a bit much. I mean, I have multiple other tanks, so I have to ration out the amount of water I use. I already wasted 55g. Thank you for the idea though. I should have done that on a smaller level, when it was still in the bucket.

 

[infiniteblue]

I recently started an aquarium using fluorite as well. I read somewhere that rinsing is a must, but that drying is absolutely necessary if you don't want a muddy or cloudy tank. I had no clouding at all with mine. Plus, when I poured in the water I actually did it with a small hose line that didn't disturb any of the fluorite. Here's the link that helped me: Washing Fluorite

 

[mfdrookie516]

Flourite is messy.... but the benefits seem to be very substantial. I have some in my 40 breeder, mixed with black floramax. It gets cloudy every time I pull up a plant or something, but settles pretty quickly. Just do some big water changes and use a plate to keep from disrupting the flourite when you fill it back up the first few times.