# Working with flourite and other 'dusty' substraights



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hello guys!

So i picked up a small box of flourite for a lil planted set up and omg.. i have red dust everywhere all the time from this stuff. I hear you are not suposed to rinse it like you would gravel. 
Is it good to put a good layer of gravel on top.. or do you guys mix it? or just go plain?

Whats the best way to set it up in a new tank? 

Thanks all! Sorry for the newbie questions


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## holocron (Mar 12, 2006)

welcome to the joys of planted substrates! 

Flourite can be a total nightmare, but there are a couple ways you can keep the clouding to a minimum. I personally don't wash flourite anymore because I found the first time I setup a tank I washed it for at least an hour and NOTHING happened, it was still rinsing black water.

The key is how you fill your tank. Ranmasatome gave me a great idea when I was working on another tank. Put a garbage bag down overtop of your flourite, and then slowly pour the water over the garbage bag. DO NOT just dump your water in, otherwise this will agitate the flouriate and give you a cloudy mess that will last for a week. Slowly but surely keep filling the tank making sure not to upset the substrate.

You will no doubt have some clouding to deal with, it will clear.

good luck


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

This is how I deal with Flourite, aragonite, etc:

Add substrate, *slowly* add water via "Python" system as to not disturb the substrate and finally gravel vac out the dust.

Saves my back, time and the client a few $$$.

HTH


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## holocron (Mar 12, 2006)

also a good idea ^^^^


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Sweet thank you guys..  

In planted tanks do you usually gravel vac like you would with normal gravel? Or is this looked down upon because of a risk of upsetting the substrate, or harming plant roots? do you guys rely on MTS, loaches or other goodies to keep your substrait airated to some degree?


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## Plant Crazy (Mar 24, 2006)

Hey Ciddian,

What I've done is to put a paint strainer (essentially fine nylon mesh) over a bucket, then dump some Flourite into the strainer, then blast it with a garden hose until the water runs through clear. Some people have also used wire mesh (the kind they use for screen doors). Either way, it gets all the fine dust out and eliminates the Flourite cloudy water problem.

As for cleaning the substrate, I do a light vacuuming with my Python at every water change. Some people never vacuum their substrate, since they believe that it's important to keep as much of the mulm as possible in the substrate, where it's utilized by the plants. It's really personal preference.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Very good plant crazy.
That's the correct way to do it. Just lightly rinse the substrate and do what the other says. Try not to agitate the substrate when you fill up your tank. You'll get cloudy water, but must less than dumping it in.
The key is to not heavily rinse flourite. It's mostly hard red clay. The more you rinse them, the more particle breaks out of the clay. So you can spend hours doing it and it'll still be cloudy.
I would gravel vaccum it when during the first 2 weeks to get the particles out so you won't get cloudy water when you pour water in during water change. After that, my plants usually starts to spread and I will stop doing it.

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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

thanks for the tips and advice guys.. It really helps a lot


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Plant Crazy said:


> Hey Ciddian,
> 
> What I've done is to put a paint strainer (essentially fine nylon mesh) over a bucket, then dump some Flourite into the strainer, then blast it with a garden hose until the water runs through clear. Some people have also used wire mesh (the kind they use for screen doors). Either way, it gets all the fine dust out and eliminates the Flourite cloudy water problem.
> 
> As for cleaning the substrate, I do a light vacuuming with my Python at every water change. Some people never vacuum their substrate, since they believe that it's important to keep as much of the mulm as possible in the substrate, where it's utilized by the plants. It's really personal preference.


Thats not a good idea. The loose dust layer on fluorite helps plant roots grab on


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## Plant Crazy (Mar 24, 2006)

Pablo said:


> Thats not a good idea. The loose dust layer on fluorite helps plant roots grab on


Well, I've never had issues without the excess dusty flourite silt being present. I find that the roots grab on without a problem. However, that's my experience.

You'll find that washing or not washing fluorite is a contentious issue. Unfortunately there's no scientific information backing either approach.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Plant Crazy said:


> Well, I've never had issues without the excess dusty flourite silt being present. I find that the roots grab on without a problem. However, that's my experience.
> 
> You'll find that washing or not washing fluorite is a contentious issue. Unfortunately there's no scientific information backing either approach.


Wow that was very diplomatic.

I would have just been like screw you I like my way  hehehe


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## Fish Dude (Oct 31, 2006)

I just added 7 bags of flourite to my new 125g setup and damn, that stuff is messy. I probably spent 2-3 hours rinsing the 7 bags and it was still very "dusty". I basically got tired of the extensive rinsing and just threw it in the tank.

The tank was very cloudy for the first 24h, but then after most of the particles settled, I did a deep gravel vacuum throughout the entire tank. I ended up draining about 60 gallons of water. The next day the tank was quite clear, but there was still a little bit of a haze in the water. I'm hoping my filter will clear the rest of this up, but I will probably do another deep gravel siphon before I add my plants.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

OOhh man.. I feel sorry for your back.. 

Cant wait to see the tank when you get it all set up!


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## Fish Dude (Oct 31, 2006)

Ciddian said:


> OOhh man.. I feel sorry for your back..
> 
> Cant wait to see the tank when you get it all set up!


The back was alright, but my neck was killing me! Looking down into a bucket for a few hours will do that though...

The tank is coming along well, I'm hoping to fill it with a ton of plants this weekend. I'm still trying to track down some nice driftwood, but that stuff is tough to find (I might just be too picky).


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

Here's an article I came across not too long ago that has some suggestions on dealing with flourite:

www.vickisaquaticplace.com/fluorite.html

Enjoy 
Harry


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Oohhh excellent! Thanks Harry


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## Canadiancray (Apr 27, 2006)

All I have to say is Eco Complete.


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## Groovychild (Jul 11, 2011)

*Approved!*



Harry Muscle said:


> Here's an article I came across not too long ago that has some suggestions on dealing with flourite:
> 
> www.vickisaquaticplace.com/fluorite.html
> 
> ...


This trick works great! Did this flourite trick on my 55g recently. Lots of mud and dust while washing but on the 3rd wash it was much clearer. Wash it in your garden if you dont want to waste the sediments.

The tank was dusty for a few hours but it's great now and the plants are already showing that they love it.


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## mrobson (Mar 5, 2011)

i only use flourite in my planted tanks both black and red, i used a large plate and a python. Just take things slow and try not to disturb the bed for a bit so it all settles, i wouldnt suggest rinsing as you paid for all that good stuff your washing away.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Seachem Clarity is a fantastic product in combo with filter floss.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

I find fluorite irritating to rinse, but its not impossible. Basically I've set up about 10 planted tanks for customers in the past 2 years. Each time I've had to rinse copious amounts of fluorite; up to 10 full bags (make for a long cold process!). I found that each bag takes about 25-30 gallons of water to rinse. I pour half a large bag into a 5g bucket, rinse it three times (about a full bucket each time), swishing aggressively with my hand, and by the third time about 90% of the dust is gone. Put it in the tank, and its cloudy for about 24 hrs, but that way you do get most of the dust out. It clears quickly. I would never put unrinsed fluorite in a tank. It would be a dust storm every time the substrate got disturbed!


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## PrimO (Dec 1, 2011)

acropora1981 said:


> I find fluorite irritating to rinse, but its not impossible. Basically I've set up about 10 planted tanks for customers in the past 2 years. Each time I've had to rinse copious amounts of fluorite; up to 10 full bags (make for a long cold process!). I found that each bag takes about 25-30 gallons of water to rinse. I pour half a large bag into a 5g bucket, rinse it three times (about a full bucket each time), swishing aggressively with my hand, and by the third time about 90% of the dust is gone. Put it in the tank, and its cloudy for about 24 hrs, but that way you do get most of the dust out. It clears quickly. I would never put unrinsed fluorite in a tank. It would be a dust storm every time the substrate got disturbed!


I decided against rinsing mine because I was told that you are only rinsing away plant nutrients and it will still cloud up if you agitate it after initial set up.

I added my fluorite, put a piece of plastic from a grocery bag over top and a small bowl upside down over top of that to help keep the water from washing out the fluorite. My tank was cloudy for about 6 hours. 
I wouldn't get to concerned about how cloudy it gets when you fill your tank though, after all your supposed to let your tank cycle anyways so whats waiting 24hrs for it to clear going to hurt?
The issue I have and I'm sure others do is I tend to change my tank around frequently, and sometimes moving one plant is enough to justify cleaning out my filter...


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