seachem flourite substrate

[smooth_cannibal]

i'm planning on rescaping all three of my tanks starting towards the end of april early may. my 10g is planted and I want to do my other two planted now as well. plant bug has really bit me.

I was planning on using floramax again in my 55g and probably cheap gravel in my 30g since I may not really have root feeders. its what I have in my 10g now. looking at prices the floramax is a little more expensive than when I bought it a while back 15 bucks a bag. I saw that the flourite is around a dollar more per bag making it attractive to me as well.

seachem site says the fluorite doesn't lose its properties like other plant substrates. but it said it was a baked clay making me wonder how it holds up in the long run.

curious to know of anyone's experiences and if they have also used floromax what the differences were with it. or if they liked it more.

also curious to know how long the floramax lasts before it loses its properties as I may just switch it over to the fluorite or just do 50%.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I would keep some of the floramax. I have flourite and it is absolutely amazing. All the plants enjoy it and grow wonderfully. It's also finer than floramax so that plants tha use runners (dwarf hairgrass, vals, dwarf sag, etc) have an easier time of spreading. Now the problem with flourite is that it is very dusty. Even after you rinse it, when you go to plant in your tank, spouts of "dust clouds" will come out into the water making the water cloudy. So this is where some floramax or other substrate comes in handy. You have to cover the top of the flourite with a layer of other substrate so that it doesn't make the water all cloud over.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

If you have a petsmart around you, I usually find Floramax on sale for about $10 - $12 a bag. Petsmart usually has those $5 off $25 coupons, too. I haven't tried flourite, but floramax has worked well for me.

 

[smooth_cannibal]

10 bucks is what I paid for my bag of floramax at petsmart. I had to print off the price and have them match it and now seeing it online it is 15 bucks a bag for the midnight and has only 12lbs vs 16 dollars per 15lb of the fluorite.

with it being a baked clay substrate does it break down and turn into mud over time. I want to say I remember reading something about it but I may be thinking of a different type of substrate.

unless I really change my mind (or I find more negative than positive) I think I am going to go with the fluorite at this point unless I really can't afford it. the dark one looks rather nice but I may not see it once I get it planted. planning on going rather heavy especially if I can spoil myself with a co2 system.

the dusty aspect doesn't really bother me too much. I can rinse and rinse and rinse some more. the seachem site pointed out that its pretty dusty already.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Well so far the flourite has held and has not started disintegrating. I do not know if it will turn to mud or not.

 

[smooth_cannibal]

how long have you been using it in your tank?

 

[Brookster123]

If you use the flourite I'd definitely recommend capping it with something. I used it under pool filter sand and so far so good! I rinsed it quite a bit but left a lot if the muddy silt in it as I felt it would be beneficial to my plants..

 

[FishCr8zy]

how long have you been using it in your tank?

I been using it in a fully planted tank for about 3-4 months. All the flourite is covered in plants.

 

[smooth_cannibal]

well not noticing it do anything for a few months is good. if someone who has used it for about a year or so would chime in. it still looks appealing to me.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Look up vids on YouTube and ask them how long the youtuber has had the flourite and how's it doing.

 

[smooth_cannibal]

that's a good idea. I didn't think about that. thanks

 

[Mebbid]

The flourite doesn't break down over time. For all intents and purposes its basically gravel. You also do t need to cap it with anything however you can cap a dirted tank with the flourite with great results.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I'm wondering if some people are confusing flourite with laterite..

 

[Mebbid]

I'm wondering if some people are confusing flourite with laterite..

Flourite is a hard clay which makes people think it will break down over time. (I thought that the first time I saw it as well) It's really closer to a rock than what most people think of when they think about clay.

 

[smooth_cannibal]

if i'm going to use it i probably won't cap it. if anything i was going to 3 bags fluorite with the rest cheap quickrete gravel to get the depth i want. to do a 55 is a little expensive. i still may get 4 bags and when i can move my 10g to a 20g long mix the fluorite with the floramax thats in there to get the depth in that.

does laterite break down then? both floramax and fluorite say you don't need to add it. i only ask since it was mentioned.