Flourite

[Wolfdog]

As of now in my 55 gal i have a medium to small sized gravel.

Would gravel be just fine for plants? or not...

I can go buy some flourite at the LFS but how would i go about doing this? The tank is already up and cycling... Do i just dump it in and mix it around? SHould i clean it up and rinse it well first?

What exactly is the flourite stuff? Can i do regular vacumming as i normally do with the gravel? Or is it like sand? Would this stuff just mix right up with all my gravel?

Help!

Wolf

 

[houndour]

I believe fluorite is reddish gravel...think it contains iron and other minerals. Dont quote me on that tho.

I think you can use fluorite as an entire substrate but it's quite expensive and people do 50/50. So I wouldn't see the harm of adding fluorite on top and then mixing it about. Make sure you rinse it thoroughly or you'll end up with red water.

 

[zig]

Naw gravel wont do by itself, gravel is inert and doesnt contain any minerals that the plants need to grow.

Flourite looks good IMO it looks just like gravel and is a nice colour as well, if you are doing a fishless cycle id probably empty it and put the filter cartridge in a bucket with some of your tank water, and if you could afford it i would remove all your existing gravel and replace it with 2-3 inches of flourite, if thats not an option i would rinse the flourite (dont think you should rinse it that much, it will cloud the water anyway, and calm down in a day or so) and mix it 50/50 with your existing gravel, just rinse and throw it in and mix it up, you still want a depth of 2-3 inches though so the plants can root properly.

Flourite is clay based, but is hardened like gravel, its one of the most popular substrates for planted tanks and plant veterans highly recommend it.

 

[superjalami30]

I use it in my tank.
When I bought it the LFS told me too "lightly" rinse it, they said if you rinse it too much you'll wash away all the nutrient's.
I have absolutly no idea if thats right or not, but I did what they said.
My tank was soooo cloudy, not a red color though, more of a greyish muddy color.
Anyways, I turned off my filter before adding the flourite so as too not suck up all that crap right away and let some of it settle.
I set up several submersible filters with sponge media located near the top of the tank and let them suck up as much as they could.
By morning my tank had cleared up nicely.

heres a couple pics of the flourite in my tank if ya wanna see what the flourite looks like.

 

[Wolfdog]

Thanx guys i think i will try to go get some.

hope this stuff isnt too expensive...

Wolf

 

[zig]

Its expensive but you only buy it once.........best of luck with it.