A better way to Rinse new flourite substrate.

[betowess]

I rinsed the heck out of mine; it took about an hour to put 45lbs worth in a wire strainer (a couple to three lbs at a time time) and I rinsed, rinsed, rinsed. But here is a better way that Rex Grigg shared with me...

The best way to rinse it is to put about 1/3-1/2 a bag in a five gallon bucket. Then take the hose with a spray nozzle and just drop it in there and let it churn. The really dirty water will overflow the bucket. Once in a while remove the hose and carefully pour the dirty water out of the bucket. Be careful to try and keep the fine bits and just get rid of the dust. Once in a while stir it with your hand. You should be able to get a bag pretty clean with this method in about 5-7 minutes with regular Flourite. Then when you fill the tank put a plate on the top of the Flourite and fill slowly! Once good hint is to also put a handful of common ground pure garden peat at the very bottom layer. This creates an acidic environment right from the start and allows the plants to access the iron in the Flourite much sooner.

 

[Guest]

Also if you have a paint strainer you can place the strainer over a 5 gallon bucket and put Flourite in the strainer and rinse it that way. It will remove the dust and keep most of the really fine particles.