Flourite

[leafs]

I would like to mix some flourite in with regular gravel. I'm going to tear down the tank to do this. Should I layer the flourite under the gravel or should I just mix it all up evenly? I'm only adding 1 - 15 lbs bag and my tank is a 29 gal. I would prefer to add a few bags but this stuff is expensive. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Jen]

I haven't used flourite, but my understanding is that you mix it all together. I know laterite has to be on the bottom.

 

[leafs]

I think I will mix it in. This stuff is is very difficult to clean. How long should it be rinsed. I managed to get most of the dirt out, but the water is still a little murky.

 

[zig]

Mix it 50-50 with the regular gravel, add more flourite if you have it, i dont think you need to rinse it that long not half as long as laterite anyway, i dont think you need to get the water to run totally clear.

 

[leafs]

I think I'll stop trying to clean it. I removed most of the dust and dirt. Hopefully when I fill the tank it won't be too murky.

Thanks

 

[BLASK]

OK

To answer your flourite questions:

First of all when you wash the gravel I assume you have it in a bucket outisde with the hose..
Thats what I did. Now you simply cannot get the murkines out of it. You will wash and wash it, turn it and churn it, but the murky water stays. Just do it for a few minutes to get the dust out.

I initially layerd it down first (15.4lbs/7kg) in my 20gal, then covered it with 15lbs of tiny gravel. My fault was that the gravel was white and the flourite was black with some reds. It looked ugly in my tank. I decided to mix em up. I did a bit and some of the water got darker.

I am adding another bag (15.4lbs) of the flourite to total my gravel to 45.8lbs which is close to the recommended 2lbs per gallon (40lbs).

ANYWAY- the stuff darkens the water but your filter will take care of it within 24 hours.

 

[leafs]

The way I cleaned it was by doing small batches at a time. Too cold to do it outside. It took a while, but it seemed to work. I think the flourite will mix well with my black gravel.

 

[EliteFishy]

Dont worry about clearning it till the water is crystal clear. Just rinse the Flourite till its less murkier and It will clear between couple hours to maybe 3 days at most.

 

[anvil63]

Yeah my 150g took about three days to clear up. The one thing that I hadn't anticipated was the extra day of murkiness every two weeks or so when my Firemouths decide to dig a new spot.


Carl

 

[leafs]

I noticed that when you think it's finally clean and you try to mix it around a bit, it gets dirty again. I guess when it rubs together it loosens it up.