Do you HAVE to was out gravel before you use it?

[crono_vivi]

Do you have to wash it? It's natural gravel, and wouldn't the filter just filter out anything? Thanks.

 

[madchild24]

i would wash it just to get all the loose particals out.

It's natural gravel

You mean natural as in gravel u use on driveways and stuff like that?

 

[greenmaji]

Your really need to rinse, declorinated water, everything going into your tank.

 

[crono_vivi]

No I meant like it wasn't dyed or anything, it's a natural color. And wouldn't the filter pick out all the loose particles?

 

[madchild24]

wouldn't the filter pick out all the loose particles?

it might but i wouldnt try.
its easy to clean it instead of putting it in and then ending up taking it all out and washing it because it made ur tank dirty
oh and greenmagi is rite anything u put in there should be cleaned

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I wouldn't advise it. If you have already done this, do a large water change immediately. But you can just rinse it in tap water before adding to the tank. I wouldn't use dechlorinated water just because you would waste so much of it. Tap water is fine.

 

[greenmaji]

I "wash" gravel in a fish only 5 gallon bucket with a gravel vac. running tap water over it and gravel vac.-ing the water out then add dechlorinator once its clean.. so its a mix of tap and dechlorinated water actually.. you could "wash" it then dechlorinate the water once its in the tank.. Im just a little parinoid.. LOL

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I stick mine in a fish only strainer and clean in the kitchen sink. It's fast, easy, and isn't a big to-do. Then I just dump it into the tank. Chances are if you are adding substrate to a tank, it is a bare tank. So you don't have to worry about dechlorinating the water first. Just seems like a waste to me.

 

[Guest]

I would definitely wash it, because even though your filter will get whats floating around in the water you will have cloudy water for days while its working, and then you have to clean all that junk out of the filter anyway. Also a lot of particles will get trapped underneath and when you go to gravel vac or water change you will stir it all up again. Trust me, i put in an extra bag of gravel without cleaning it once and it took weeks for my aquarium to get completely clear again. Just rinse it really clean and then you won't have any problems.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Its alot easier to just rinse it in the sink with a strainer. That little amount of tap water going in to the tank isn't going to do anything.

 

[Guest]

Its alot easier to just rinse it in the sink with a strainer. That little amount of tap water going in to the tank isn't going to do anything.

I agree, i just use a big colander (strainer) but i do it outside because i don't want the little pieces of rock that get through to go down my drain ( i clogged up my bathtub like that once 8O

Also, the small amount of tapwater from rinsing the stones should be taken care of by the amount of dechlor you add to your tank.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Also, the small amount of tapwater from rinsing the stones should be taken care of by the amount of dechlor you add to your tank.

That little amount of tap water won't do any harm to the fish, just a waste of dechlor, but if are worried about it then go ahead and add dechlor.

 

[talloulou]

I just poke a bunch of holes in the gravel bag and hold the bag under tap water for a few minutes let the water run through the gravel and out the holes. I definitely think its a total waste of time to worry about cleaning the gravel with dechlorinated water. I have never done that and I have never had a problem. Just let the water run through the bag a few minutes then wait until the bag is completely drained of water and then pour the gravel into your tank.

 

[Guest]

Also, the small amount of tapwater from rinsing the stones should be taken care of by the amount of dechlor you add to your tank.


That little amount of tap water won't do any harm to the fish, just a waste of dechlor, but if are worried about it then go ahead and add dechlor.

What i meant was, he didn't have to worry about rinsing in dechlor water because the dechlor he added to his tank should take care of any leftover chorine.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What i meant was, he didn't have to worry about rinsing in dechlor water because the dechlor he added to his tank should take care of any leftover chorine.

Exactly. Using dechlorinated water is a waste of money and dechlorinator. It's also not a bad thing to slightly top off a tank with tap water. I don't do it because we have chloramines.

 

[greenmaji]

You can use prime or a similar product if you have chloamines..

 

[talloulou]

If you do regular pwc you should never have to "top off" a tank. IMO if enough time has past that water has noticably evaporated then its time to do a gravel vac and pwc.

 

[greenmaji]

It really depends on how dry the air is in your home.. Ive had tanks that needed topped off every day.. I dont do daily water changes very often..

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I do water changes weekly and have to top off the tanks. It's normally not much, but just enough to keep the water level up to the black rim.

I do use Prime GM. But I am not going to put it in the tank if I add 1 gal to the 150 gal tank. It doesn't need it as long as you don't have chloramines. I used to do it all the time at my old apt because they didn't use Chloramines.

 

[talloulou]

Wow, I didn't think water could evaporate that fast unless you were living in the desert.
I always assumed tanks that needed topping off were tanks that haven't seen a water change in quite a bit. I stand corrected