Didn't Rinse The Flourite Enough

[ers81239]

I'm getting my very first aquarium set up. I finally got all my supplies together. I've been reading the forums for a few weeks trying to get a handle on things so I don't make to many stupid mistakes. My Dad kept fish when I was a kid, but he killed them all the time. I'd like to do a little better.

I decided to go with 2 bags of EcoComplete and 2 bags of Flourite. Unfortunately they aren't sold near my so I ordered them. I did one bag of each to start. The water was so cloudy and murky it was crazy. I thought it might settle, so I let it sit for 24h. That didn't help, so I started the filter. That wasn't making any progress either. So I tried vacuuming. Man, that seemed to be going nowhere either. Finally I just drained the tank. I decided to add my other two bags at this time, but I decided to rinse the Flourite more thoroughly.

No wonder the tank was so murky, that Flourite puts out some MUD! I rinsed the first bag like you might rinse a salad, really quickly. For the second bag I put it in a bucket and realized how much dust is in there. If I had to do it over again, I would just go with all EC since it doesn't seem to release any dust at all. It comes with some water in the bag and you can shake it up and the water stays clear.

Here is my first (of many, probably) question. My water is very chlorinated. When I do a water change, can I just add a 'dechlorinator' of some kind and then add tap water, or do I need to dechlorinate the water in a bucket or something?

Oh, before anyone asks, I have a 40g in which I'm hoping to do some live plants and community fish.

 

[tophat665]

Get ye a 24 gallon storage tub. Seriously. These are incrediby useful. I had been using a 7 gallon fermenting bucket to rinse gravel in, but the tub beats it all hollow. Rinsed out a bag of flourite, half dozen rinses, water running, not clear, but as clear as it ever gets, in 10 minutes. With the bucket, it took 3 times that long.

Also, you should dechlorinate your water before you put it in the tank. I mean, think how you would feel if someone changed out half your atmosphere with tear gas for just a few minutes. That sounds harsher than I mean it to be, but , if you have a container you can get half a tank full of water into (such as a 24 gallon storage tub) then you can decholrinate your water in there, and, if you can sit it on a level higher than the tank or if you have a pump that will lift the water from it into the tank, then you, my friend, are sitting pretty.

And, just to wrap up my paean on the wonders of the 24 gallon plastic storage container, if you only use it for tasks aquatic, and you ever need a spare tank in a hurry (such as when the neighbor's golfball comes through the window and shatters the tank) you have one right there.

Eco Complete too kicks up a ton of gunk into the water if it's not rinsed first (or if the water isn't put in slowly and carefully after it.) It took me two days to de-murkify a 20 gallon running a tetra 20 and a whisper 30 to clear the water after I made that mistake.