Help! Fluorite red conundrum!

[madasafish]

Hi,

Haven't posted here for a while...

I've just purchased some Fluorite Red from Seachem, and am rinsing it. Each time I rinse it, more and more clay comes out, and the water stays deeply red. I know I'm supposed to get rid of the dust, but am I destroying the clay completely by washing it this much? I've done a thorough rinse about 5 times now.

Can somebody help me quickly? I'm in limbo with tanks and containers scattered around the house!

Thanks a bunch,
Jonathan

 

[madasafish]

Ooh. Even worse... the FR seems to have lost about 30-40% of its mass from this waching. Is this normal??

 

[justDIY]

bummer about loosing so much flourite!

all flourite is, is clay particles, compacted into those little granuals. This is why I advocate not washing, but only a light rinse to remove the finest dust.

others may prescribe intensive washing, wasting dozens of gallons of water, not to mention a considerable amount of the product.

Lightly rinse, put the product in the tank, and let it settle naturally... this requires great pateince during planting as every touch to the substrate will cause cloudyness, especially until your substrate becomes a living home to trillions of bacteria, which will then bind even the smallest of particles.

Over a few weeks time, gravity will also have a positive effect, causing the silt to be drawn to the bottom of the substrate.

Until things settle down, you can try using micron filtration and carbon filtration, to draw out the very fine dust.

 

[madasafish]

Thanks, justDIY. Can I add fish or not? I'd just add some zebra danios. Would they be hurt by the clay?

 

[madasafish]

Oh, and should I use the carbon filter in my tank to start out with? Will that ruin the fluorite?

 

[justDIY]

the test I use to determine if water is 'clean enough' for fish is...

place my hand in the tank, all the way to the back - if I can see all my fingers from the front glass, then the water is probably clear enough that it won't sufficate fish or plants.

water that is very cloudy (ie fails the hand test) is dangerous because the dirt can get in fishes gills and cause irritation, it can also clog pores on plants, causing them to sufficate.

-----

yes, run carbon until your water is sparkling clear - you may need to change the carbon every few days for the first week due to there being so much junk in the water.

 

[Guest]

justDIY,

I can tell that you have never used Flourite Red. It's the dustiest stuff I have ever seen, well maybe Onyx sand comes close. To rinse these substrates you should get a 5 gallon bucket and a paint strainer. Fill the paint strainer about 1/3 to 1/2 full of the substrate and then rinse it with the hose. Avoid excessive stirring or mixing as this tends to break the Flourite and cause more dust. The paint strainer will prevent you from washing away the fine particles but will remove the dust.

Also as a side note when placing Flourite into a new tank I always put a thin layer of plain old garden peat at the bottom. This creates an acidic environment and allows the plants to access the iron in the Flourite much quicker.

 

[justDIY]

@Rex

well sir to be honest, I have never used flourite red. I have used traditional flourite, as well as a whole slew of other experimental substrates (includeing the (in)famous kitty-litter and natural clay riverbed), most of which were messier than the accounts I've read regarding flourite red.

If you will please re-read my post, you find in there that I did not say anything about the product not being dusty... the advice I give pretains to being patient, allowing the dust to settle, rather than throw it away in the rinse process.

 

[madasafish]

Yeah... the dust is not going away in the tank. I just planted some of the plants more deeply and have re-awakened all the dust! Hmm... buy I can't take all the substrate out of the tank, now...

Thanks, DIY, for the advice, nonetheless!

Thanks, Rex Grigg, for the advice.

 

[Guest]

With Flourite Red and Onyx sand the dust won't settle if you don't get it washed off. You could run a diatom filter and clear up the water but that would be about it. I once set up a 5.5 gallon tank with Onyx sand. Added it to the tank without any rinsing. One week later you still could not see the back of the tank. Pretty much the same thing with Flourite Red.

Normal Flourite is, as I recall, triple washed before it's bagged. The Red is only washed once. So add to that the trauma of shipping and the Red is going to be much dustier than normal Flourite.

 

[betowess]

My lfs says if you can wait up to two weeks, then the standard flourite will settle and eventually the bacteria will lock things up abit. Personally I think Rex is right. Just wash away.

It took me over 1 hour to wash 45lbs of the standard flourite which was probably extra extra dusty due to East to West coast UPS shipping. I really don't think you're gonna loose that much in the dust, volume wise and also you can play with the plants more without kicking up a bunch of cloudy funk. Someone who knew suggested to me once: "Get it out of there and wash it..." I'm glad I did.

Good luck Madasafish! Betowess

 

[madasafish]

Thanx, all. Looks like I'm going to have to wait until the weekend and take a few more hours out of the day to clean out this fluorite red. If I remember, I'll let you know how it goes.

Madasa