New and first try with CaribSea Flora Max

[Ashenwelt]

Hey all,

So I just jumped back into this hobby after about 15 years of a hiatus. So starting out I am planning a community planted tank. Now comes the oddity, I decided to try out some more plant friendly substrate, so am trying CaribSea Flora Max Planted Aquarium Substrate in a 45 gallon tank. Used 30 lbs, or around 800+ cubic inches, so it covered fairly well.

Sadly, four hours in, re-leveled the substrate and wow… clouds. But four hours did not get close to clear. By the way, when I am talking clouds, I am talking opaque, not a little bit of cloudy. So the issue is… lightly rinse was a little off, but figured I would try that. Oh well, live and learn. So the stuff caused the tank to be insanely cloudy.

And no, no fish or plants yet. But plants will come, and then maybe shrimp, and then some fish.

Question set one: Is this normal? Should I do a complete water change or with this slowly clear out?

Question set two: does an aqua clear 50 sound bad for this? I have it running and honestly it went from quiet to a machine dying sound.

Question set three: can some regular gravel be successfully mixed in with this stuff for appearance?

And yep, over paranoid, I know.

Thanks all!

[Fresh2o]

I think the cloudiness you are seeing is normal for that substrate. Since you don't have anything in the tank (yet) I would perform several large water changes to clear the water. Place a dish on the substrate when refilling the tank to reduce disturbing the substrate.
More importantly, I would remove the filter and clean the impeller and surrounding area. Sand, grit, or fine gravel can damage the impeller and/or magnet. This may cause a permanent grinding noise. Of course, replacing the impeller will fix that if it comes to it.


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[stevenht]

I had the same problem with mine but it started to clear up within 45 minutes and was almost clear after about 4 to 5 hours

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[FishayFishay]

This stuff is very very messy. I used this on my 20 long, one bag of it. I washed and rinsed it repeatedly for like 2-3 weeks. Maybe twice a day for 2-3 days of the week and let it sit in a 5 gal bucket of water and repeat. It still was fairly cloudy. I'm guessing you added the little packet that supposed to "clear up" the cloudiness. All I can suggest is water changes and patience.

Are you going through cycling?

[Ashenwelt]

I used a gravel siphon and did another two major water changes, then I switched to a AquaClear 70 with triple mechanical. It cleared. Then I planted and spiked with bacteria starter.

So yeah, beginning my cycling, but my wife really wants to drop some fish in. LOL. I will be looking at the water tonight, but it was clear till I switched to the traditional 3 layers in the aquaclear and spiked the bacteria.

Thanks!

[stevenht]

Originally Posted by FishayFishay

This stuff is very very messy. I used this on my 20 long, one bag of it. I washed and rinsed it repeatedly for like 2-3 weeks. Maybe twice a day for 2-3 days of the week and let it sit in a 5 gal bucket of water and repeat. It still was fairly cloudy. I'm guessing you added the little packet that supposed to "clear up" the cloudiness. All I can suggest is water changes and patience.

Are you going through cycling?

I literally opened the bag, got it wet in a bucket, and started placing handfuls in there at a time slowly so it didn't cloud the water as much. Took about 10 minutes. I actually didn't even see the packet in there the first time I used this stuff lol. My filter got dirty so I washed all the dirt off after it was clear. The 2nd time I used it and used the clearing packet, it didn't even work. It actually took about twice as long.

I'm done cycling in my 20H and almost done in my 10g but I already have a betta in there. He has survived worse (walmart cup) so I put him in there with quickstart stuff and I have shrimp in there and about to add 2 cory's.

[Ashenwelt]

I didn't see an impact from the cleaning pack.