Help Identify This Substrate.

[CrazyAirborne]

well i figured id post here since the guy told me he was told it was really expensive plant substrate. this might be a long shot, but i figure its worth a try.

i bought a 4 ft tank today and im super excited, except the tank is really dirty and it came with this interesting substrate.

this has been sitting in the tank, very dirty, wet, with maybe a half inch of water, so i figure its probably full of nasties, tho it doesnt smell or anything. as im rinsing it out, the water is just brown, and it took a very long time to clean a small portion of the substrate. should i not be cleaning it? like maybe im washing away the substrate too much? it just looks muddy as i rinse and rinse and rinse.

as ive never had any substrate other than sand, thats all i have to compare it too, and its taking way longer for the water to run clear than when i clean my new boughten sand.

any thoughts? maybe i shouldnt be rinsing it so thoroughly? can anyone tell me what it is?

the full bucket shots show the true color. its an interesting brown. its kind of like large grain sand or something. idk

 

[hanny93]

I'd say just large grain sand with small grain gravel mixed in, the gravel would account for the dirtiness and the sand for the texture

 

[StandbySetting]

Looks like plain inert gravel, no nutritional value what so ever.

Last time I used this stuff it did require a lot of cleaning, I removed as much silt as possible, but my tank still clouded, it settled after 3 days however.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

hmm, its really different, the pics make it look like gravel but its really fine grain, its not something P@H carries i know that for sure, its different. the guy worked at Maiden Head Aq if that helps any.

thanks for the thoughts guys.

 

[StandbySetting]

I know what stuff you mean, it's really fine, grains ranging from 0.5-2mm in size, mine came in a generic unbranded bag.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

ok cool, so washing it out untill the water runs clear should be the thing to do then right?

 

[StandbySetting]

Yes

 

[CrazyAirborne]

ok well i figured it out. after spending 20 min washing and washing one tiny little bucket, i thought there is no way this is just gravel, where is all the mud coming from. after bringing the washed bucket to the tank, and laying down a layer, i realized that the little brown balls, which i originally thought looked not at all like gravel, totally are like little balls of dirt or clay or mud. they can be squished and smeared. and they make up the majority of this substrate, so im definitely thinking that it very well could be some kind of plant substrate.

 

[StandbySetting]

Sounds like clay, normally it is on the bottom and then capped with gravel, if not it will continue to cloud the water.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

heres a pic for reference sake, u can see the brown balls, and then one squished on top. it definitely seems to be clay. are there any popular substrates that have a composition like this?

 

[StandbySetting]

A lot of people including myself use plain clay cat litter, though Tropica's plant substrate is made of clay also.