Urgent Substrate Qustion!

[fish-aholic]

I had some gravel in my small 10 gallon that was really boring me and not doing so much for the plants either, so I went to my lfs and bought some fluorite. I took out 50% water all plants, gravel, decorations, fish, and shrimp. I only have four zebra danios in there at the moment so I put them into two small cups (two in each cup). I put the shrimp into a seperate little jar. Once i took out the gravel I started to put in the fluorite. The tank got really black and when I was finished I couldn't even see an inch in there. So far two of the danios have jumped out but i got them back in there cups and put covers on them. I have the filter running cuz i thought this might help. How long will it take for the water to clear up? Also is there anything I can do for the fish will it clears up, cuz they seem pretty stressed?

 

[Themuleous]

Sorry but this is a common problem with fluorite. There isn't much you can do but wait for the filter to clear it which could take a few days. If you've got a spare filter run that as well with some filter wool in it. Hope it sorts soon. A few large water changes couldn't hurt either.

Sam

 

[Underwurlde]

Ahhhhh..... You need to rinse Flourite BEFORE you put it in the tank....

A good basic substrate will do better with a bit of laterite mixed to add a bit of iron. Note also, Fourite contians no macro nutrients as far as I'm aware, so this must be dosed as well.

 

[fish-aholic]

I did rinse the substrate very well. And its a bit too late now to reconsider. Even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to an account of me not being able to see in.

 

[Underwurlde]

Oh! OK then, as Sam suggests then, you'll just have to wait for it to settle / clear then...

Andy

 

[fish-aholic]

If I want it to settle should I still be using my filter. It creates some current in the tank.

 

[Underwurlde]

Yes. It will clear faster.

Regardless however, do -->NOT<-- turn your filter off for a period longer than 1hr TOPS - you'll end up killing all benefical bacteria and your whole tank will have to be recycled!

Andy

 

[fish-aholic]

So thats a yes to turning it off? Would it be okay if I put it in a jar of tank water.

 

[Underwurlde]

Sorry, that's a yes to: 'should I still be using my filter'.

Keep it ON.
DON'T turn it off!!

Andy

 

[fish-aholic]

Oh all right hopeully it will clear up soon, so my fish can get out of those small cups. I hope they make it.

 

[Underwurlde]

Erm, I'm thinking now that fish should be OK in cloudy, muddy water..... You really out to get them back in there.

Do you have any test kits to hand? If so, what does Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate read. Also pH would be nice to know (compared to what it was before if known).

Also, try reintroducing the fish back in SLOWLY, like you would do for new fish... by floating them in a bag, gradually adding tank water into their floating bag over a 1/2 hrs period...

Andy

 

[fish-aholic]

As a matter of fact my ammonia kit just ran out but my ph is 6.5 (forgot the original(duh)) , nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 10ish. I guess ill just drip acclimate them.

 

[fish-aholic]

Well the "fog" was finally down this morning. All the fish and shrimps made it! I realized though that there was not enough to have the hills going to the two back corners as I wanted, so after school I put in some more substrate. It is not as nearly as cloudy cause i spent like an hour washing it. Yeah so now its in there like I want it and I was wondering if I should put some of the old gravel on top of it. I like how it looks now but with the gravel on it i could gravel vac and won't it seed the new gravel somehow. Also i bought some dwarf baby tears. Does anybody know how to plant them (in a bunch or plantlet by plantlet).

 

[juiced1300]

I bought the same stuff for my community tank BUT before I even thought of putting it in I took it all outside and used 5 gallon buckets and the hose to wash the stuff till it was crystal clear. I would buried the hose into the bucket and then used both hands to work the gravel over and over and let the black dust just pour over the edges. I can tell you this, that stuff is deathly dirty and I have a lazy friend who just did a half assed wash in the sink before putting it in his tank and he lost fish that panicked and jumped, or who knws, maybe they couldnt breath, either way your talking about only 10 minutes taken out of your day to do it right.
Its nowhere near as clean as a bag of just "normal" gravel from the pet shop, its dirty dirty dirty! The good part is plants seem to grow great in it, i have plants that have struggled before and needed to be kept potted and now are planted directly into the tank and are blooming with new growth and color. I love it.