# Does Flourite expire?



## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Hey all, long time no post . I've been tankless for over a year now and my 65 gal has been sitting empty in my condo for as long. I'm looking to get back into the hobby on a much smaller scale than before and I am going to turn my 65 gal into a planted tank. I have two bags of flourite from before I shut everything down that might be 1.5 years old or so and if I can, I'd like to use them in my tank. Im just curious if the flourite will still be good after sitting in a garage for so long? I couldn't find anything on the bags themselves, does anyone know if it'd still be good?


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

I'm pretty sure it doesn't. Fluorite is just fired clay.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

So the nutrients etc remain? Good to know. I believe in the tank eventually they expire as the plants absorb all the goof stuff out and it needs to be replaced but I wasn't sure if it was like frozen vegetables that gradually lose their value even when not used.


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Unlike aqua soil, I don't believe there are any nutrients in flourite. It just acts as a sponge for what you dose 

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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Cory said:


> So the nutrients etc remain? Good to know. I believe in the tank eventually they expire as the plants absorb all the goof stuff out and it needs to be replaced but I wasn't sure if it was like frozen vegetables that gradually lose their value even when not used.


Fluorite helps plants in two ways. First, it is fired clay, and thus rich in minerals. Note that it doesn't "contain" minerals, it *is* minerals.

Second, fluorite has a high CEC (compared to inert gravel/sand, at least), so it can bind organic nutrients (NPK) from the water column and make it accessible to plants. This means that overtime, a fluorite substrate will become nutrient-rich from fish droppings, etc.

On its own, however, fluorite does not contain any organic nutrients.

In any case, I would no more worry about fluorite "expiring" than I would worry about soil expiring.


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Actually, let me rephrase that. They list the mineral composition on the website, but these minerals are not readily available to plants 

Edit. Solarz beat me to it lol


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

arturo said:


> Actually, let me rephrase that. They list the mineral composition on the website, but these minerals are not readily available to plants
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


I'm pretty sure that they are, since one of the benefits of using fluorite is you won't need to dose micronutrients.

However, fluorite cannot run out of the minerals since it is made up of those minerals.


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

solarz said:


> I'm pretty sure that they are, since one of the benefits of using fluorite is you won't need to dose micronutrients.
> 
> However, fluorite cannot run out of the minerals since it is made up of those minerals.


Oh, that makes sense. Although I don't know anyone who doesn't dose micro with flourite. I'll have to re educate myself on the subject.

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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

arturo said:


> Oh, that makes sense. Although I don't know anyone who doesn't dose micro with flourite. I'll have to re educate myself on the subject.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


To be more specific, the minerals in a flourite substrate is only available to root feeders. I am not sure how much stem plants benefit from it.

This is what Seachem claims about Flourite:

http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Flourite.html


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Ahh. Thanks for the info. I was always more of an expert on breeding and rearing healthy fish. I always had planted tanks but never really understood them other than substrate + lighting + fertilizers +Co2 = growing plants. This makes much more sense to me now, never really could understand how the special plant substrates benefited my plants. 

I know it's a separate topic, but now that I've got that answered.. I'm hoping to use an LED system for the tank but last time I checked LED lighting had not progressed far enough to be very useful for planted tanks. Do they have better LED systems now that can handle light intensive or at least mid-way intensive plants?


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Check out buildmyled.com

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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

pretty sure there are good LED but you will have to sell a few children to be able to afford one


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I know they are more expensive, but I think you end up saving money on replacing bulbs and electricity costs no?


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

Just my 2 cents but if you really want to bring out the colours of your plants stick with T5HO, let your plants pay for your bulbs and electricity. I've yet to see an LED fixture that can bring out the reds, oranges, and pinks like T5HO's can. I'm sure LED's will eventually be figured out and constructed to where we can grow plants to perfection but right now T5HO's are still the leader.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I will take that into consideration. I'm really fixated on the idea of LEDs for some reason to be honest but I'll see where price points are when I'm ready to get going with a tank again. Haven't had time to do much with my sister's wedding this weekend and my LSAT to write in a few weeks but I'm going to see what I can find after all that is done.  

Thanks for everyone's input.


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