Seachem Flourite! Messy, Messy, Messy!

[lljdma06]

Well, I setup everything in my 36g. I rinsed the Flourite for 2 hours, yucky mess. I was careful not to disturb the substrate. I set up the tank before New Year's and it's still cloudy. Some days are better than others. I've installed a second filter to help the first (both are aquaclear, one is for a 70g aqarium, the other is for a 40g aquarium). I put carbon and foam inserts and am rinsing out brown crap every two days. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? I can't even see to the back of the aquarium. It looks like cloudy water, but it's not brown, it's just wierd? I would like to start playing with the CO2, but I can't until I reduce the filtration and current, which at this point would make CO2 injection absolutely useless. At least there isn't any algae, but I'm not running lights.

Ph is 6.8, gH is 6, kH is 4, ammo is 0ppm. Great stats considering Miami water fromt the tap is pH 9.00 and ammonia at 1ppm. Funny, the water is now soft, as the kH and gH is readings were the same from the tap. No plants, no fish, nothing, just substrate and two pieces of mopani, which I know leaks tannins, but that's never clouded the water.

By the way, Accuclear is a piece of garbage. Supposedly it clears water by making particles larger so the filter can pick it up. I've been adding the dosage according to the packaging and nada. It has probably caused more harm than good. I did it three times over the past two weeks and I've given up.

Feel free to move this to another section if you feel I would get more help, but I posted in Plants because of the Flourite substrate.

Thank you very much, and warmest regards,

Frustrated Floridian.

 

[jimbooo]

strange, i would have thought it would have cleared by now. i've not used flourite but laterite takes about 24 hrs to clear. all you can really do is let the filters do their job and wait. change the filter floss as often as poss though and things should clear up soon (the prefilter floss obviously not the sponges but i'm sure you know that)

 

[lljdma06]

strange, i would have thought it would have cleared by now. i've not used flourite but laterite takes about 24 hrs to clear. all you can really do is let the filters do their job and wait. change the filter floss as often as poss though and things should clear up soon (the prefilter floss obviously not the sponges but i'm sure you know that)

Thanks, Jimbooo, I'll continue doing that then. It's really quite annoying, and I'm trying to be patient. These sort of things are a work in progress really, and as long as I have some plants before I leave, I won't tear my hair out. I don't think the tank will suffer much with mostly hardy stem plants and some low-light java fern and crypts if I add CO2, ferts, and only run one 65W, which would give me 1.8 WPG. I can always flip the other light on and tackle more fragile plants when I return to FL in May. I would really like to work on my CO2 already, but hopefully that's next week's task.

I do have one question, though, should I do partial water changes every few days in addition to rinsing the filters, or should I just rinse the filters everyday? I'm rinsing them in de-chlorinated tap water.

Again, thanks. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Semi-frustrated Floridian

 

[EliteFishy]

I use flourite. I had to wait about 3-4 days I think before my whole tank was clear again. I also used some water clearer chemicals. Just dont try to desturb the flourite or else it will take longer for the water to clear.

Also, you filter will be VERY VERY dirty after your water clears. I suggest you to clean you filter after your water has cleared and you media will look like ite been covered with mud.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

Miami water fromt the tap is pH 9.00 and ammonia at 1ppm

are you sure you get a 1ppm ammonia reading from your tap?

 

[lljdma06]

Miami water fromt the tap is pH 9.00 and ammonia at 1ppm

are you sure you get a 1ppm ammonia reading from your tap?

Yep, at least in that particular test day. My guess is that the test is picking up the ammonia compounds found in Chloramime or Chloramine, which is used to condition tapwater in S. FL. Wholesome, huh?. Once I use a dechlorinator, it removes the junk and I no longer have ammonia and it doesn't show up on tests.

I have a question, would some hardy plants do alright if the water is not perfectly clear? I would assume it would be a matter of light penetrating and their leaves getting clogged by the particles in the water. Whatever, I'm just getting impatient.

Thanks for the imput. I rinse my filter everyday, so though the water looks like mud, the cartiges aren't so bad. The first day was nasty, though. It is slightly better today, but still aweful. Would it be helpful if I took a picture of the mess? Perhaps it is something else as the water is not brown cloudy like it was before, but more like a grayish whitish, light tannish cloudy? Could I be experiencing just a large bacterial bloom?

Still Frustrated Floridian

 

[karlp]

I added JBL Florapol (basically a laterite product) which made a big murky mess in my tank for about 2 days I guess.

As the other guys said, put as much fine filter wool and carbon in your filter as you can to get the water clean and wash it out periodically.

I wouldn't put any plants in yet. I had a couple in the tank when it was murky and although it didnt' do them any harm, they needed cleaning up after wards.

 

[lljdma06]

I wouldn't put any plants in yet. I had a couple in the tank when it was murky and although it didnt' do them any harm, they needed cleaning up after wards.

I didn't think plants would work, but it was worth a shot to ask. Poopoo, I hate waiting.

Impatient Still Frustrated Floridian