The gentleman at Fish Vet was nice enough to share a cool trick with me to avoid cloudy water when setting up a new tank.
I set up my new 70 gal with bottom layer of Flourite and laterite mix (this mix reminds me of Flourite Red) that makes up 1/3 of the total substrate and a top layer of Flourite alone.
The trick is to let the first layer settle for at least an hour and then let the second later settle for a hour as well. Then fill the tank with water using a plate or tuperware lid to keep the water from hitting the water directly.
I actually left the first layer to settle overnight because it got too late. Here's a pic of my results about 5 hrs after I filled the water.
I set up my new 70 gal with bottom layer of Flourite and laterite mix (this mix reminds me of Flourite Red) that makes up 1/3 of the total substrate and a top layer of Flourite alone.
The trick is to let the first layer settle for at least an hour and then let the second later settle for a hour as well. Then fill the tank with water using a plate or tuperware lid to keep the water from hitting the water directly.
I actually left the first layer to settle overnight because it got too late. Here's a pic of my results about 5 hrs after I filled the water.