My aquarium society had a show this weekend and I brough in my 2gal
jungle tank. It's got about 2" of Flourite in the bottom. I'm having
problems keeping bettas in there despite all the plants and very high
water quality. I lost one, and the next is not doing very well.

One member said that 2" of Flourite in a 2g tank is too much mineralized
substrate and will leach minerals into the water column, making
sof****er fish like bettas susceptible to illnesses. She said that
other people in the club have had problems with fish in small tanks with
high mineral-content substrates. I've also been wondering about
Flourish Excel.

The discus I lost was in a 15g tank with 2.5" of 50% Flourite/50% Eco
Complete and I'm having some trouble with other fish in that tank
despite zero ammonia and nitrite, healthy plants, good filtration, and
stable water conditions. All my outdoor fish with gravel in the tank
(or plant baskets) and no Excel are doing perfectly fine, and they go
through temperature fluctuations, have less filtration, and hardly ever
get water changes.

Has anyone else noticed problems with mineralized substrates? Or
Flourish Excel?

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com