I just added Flourite to my 29 and 10 gallon freshwater...I learned from the
29 gallon that when Seachem says the Flourite might require rinsing you
should read it as 'flooding'. Rinsing just didn't cut it. The 29 now looks
like Mars during a sandstorm. I did the 10g by putting the Flourite in the
same colander and REALLY washing it...this time a very minor clouding
occurred and now, 15 minutes later, is gone.

The moral of the story is wash well, and Flourite before getting the tank
established.

A sheepish Dan, who jumped the gun.

LOL... I like the Mars analogy. You're not kidding about the rinsing! You
can spend an hour on 5 lbs. of the stuff.

Perhaps some people (starting with a new tank) put it on the bottom layer
and cover it with rinsed regular (natural) gravel.

Perhaps some other folks will have some feedback on this. Maybe you can use
a diatom filter or one of those canister filters that have the special fine
filtration insert.
"Dan Norgard" wrote in message
...
I just added Flourite to my 29 and 10 gallon freshwater...I learned from
the
29 gallon that when Seachem says the Flourite might require rinsing you
should read it as 'flooding'. Rinsing just didn't cut it. The 29 now
looks
like Mars during a sandstorm. I did the 10g by putting the Flourite in
the
same colander and REALLY washing it...this time a very minor clouding
occurred and now, 15 minutes later, is gone.

The moral of the story is wash well, and Flourite before getting the tank
established.

A sheepish Dan, who jumped the gun.

The thing with Flourite is that the more you bang it around (stir, shake,
etc) while "rinsing," the more you are going to scrape the pieces together
and cause more dust to flake off. Give it a decent rinse, in a strainer or
colander or on a screen- till the water coming off is somewhat cleaner, then
put it in the tank. Anything that ends up in the water settles out really
fast- I've never even had it take more than a day. And you want to keep as
much of the stuff in the tank as you can- no sense rinsing some useful bits
down the drain!

-Mak
http://www.thirtytwopaws.com/mak
Updates 8/5/03

Downeast Regional Chili Cookoff, Sept. 6
Maine State Chili Cookoff, Sept. 7
Wells Harbor Park, Wells, Me
Come say Hello to the ChiliCats!

Right, Mary. I saved the 'dust' to make pellets to insert in the 'probation
tank'
Dan

"Mary Alice Kropp" wrote in message
t...
The thing with Flourite is that the more you bang it around (stir, shake,
etc) while "rinsing," the more you are going to scrape the pieces together
and cause more dust to flake off. Give it a decent rinse, in a strainer or
colander or on a screen- till the water coming off is somewhat cleaner, then
put it in the tank. Anything that ends up in the water settles out really
fast- I've never even had it take more than a day. And you want to keep as
much of the stuff in the tank as you can- no sense rinsing some useful bits
down the drain!

-Mak
http://www.thirtytwopaws.com/mak
Updates 8/5/03

Downeast Regional Chili Cookoff, Sept. 6
Maine State Chili Cookoff, Sept. 7
Wells Harbor Park, Wells, Me
Come say Hello to the ChiliCats!

The thing with Flourite is that the more you bang it around (stir, shake,
etc) while "rinsing," the more you are going to scrape the pieces together
and cause more dust to flake off. Give it a decent rinse, in a strainer or
colander or on a screen- till the water coming off is somewhat cleaner, then
put it in the tank. Anything that ends up in the water settles out really
fast- I've never even had it take more than a day. And you want to keep as
much of the stuff in the tank as you can- no sense rinsing some useful bits
down the drain!


I agree. People have had good results with just sifting the dry Flourite in a
screen sieve -- outdoors! No water required.

Once it's in the tank, expect the tank to be cloudy for the first day or so.
When I added Flourite to my tank, I packed my filter with cheap polyester
floss, so I could toss it after one day. (It was full of brown silt.) After
that, it was fine.

So don't worry too much about washing Flourite. It settles fast. You just
have to rinse your filter media frequently the first few days. And fear not,
after a couple of weeks, you'll be able to stir up the substrate without
causing more than very temporary cloudiness.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

cant be wrong with that one, just dump it in, it will settle, eventually,
but hey, it looks awesome and works the same.
"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
The thing with Flourite is that the more you bang it around (stir, shake,
etc) while "rinsing," the more you are going to scrape the pieces
together
and cause more dust to flake off. Give it a decent rinse, in a strainer
or
colander or on a screen- till the water coming off is somewhat cleaner,
then
put it in the tank. Anything that ends up in the water settles out really
fast- I've never even had it take more than a day. And you want to keep
as
much of the stuff in the tank as you can- no sense rinsing some useful
bits
down the drain!


I agree. People have had good results with just sifting the dry Flourite
in a
screen sieve -- outdoors! No water required.

Once it's in the tank, expect the tank to be cloudy for the first day or
so.
When I added Flourite to my tank, I packed my filter with cheap polyester
floss, so I could toss it after one day. (It was full of brown silt.)
After
that, it was fine.

So don't worry too much about washing Flourite. It settles fast. You
just
have to rinse your filter media frequently the first few days. And fear
not,
after a couple of weeks, you'll be able to stir up the substrate without
causing more than very temporary cloudiness.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

I am going to take your advice, and the advice of many others, learned here,
you can rinse enough to get the biggest of dist off, but aggitation just
creates more... makes sense, especially now, when after breaking a tank
down, and rebuilding it, I've learned that flourite, breaks down over time,
and dissolves.... because, I know I had more in there when I started... So
now I've got the fun task of having to add some flourite to my already
rebuilt, rearranged on a daily basis, 29g, barely planted....

all, and every peice of advice taken and duly noted... :-)

I love this group!!!

RedForeman ©®


"Mary Alice Kropp" wrote in message
t...
The thing with Flourite is that the more you bang it around (stir, shake,
etc) while "rinsing," the more you are going to scrape the pieces together
and cause more dust to flake off. Give it a decent rinse, in a strainer
or
colander or on a screen- till the water coming off is somewhat cleaner,
then
put it in the tank. Anything that ends up in the water settles out really
fast- I've never even had it take more than a day. And you want to keep as
much of the stuff in the tank as you can- no sense rinsing some useful
bits
down the drain!

-Mak
http://www.thirtytwopaws.com/mak
Updates 8/5/03

Downeast Regional Chili Cookoff, Sept. 6
Maine State Chili Cookoff, Sept. 7
Wells Harbor Park, Wells, Me
Come say Hello to the ChiliCats!

On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 23:45:59 GMT, "RedForeman ©®"
wrote:

creates more... makes sense, especially now, when after breaking a tank
down, and rebuilding it, I've learned that flourite, breaks down over time,
and dissolves....

No, it does not dissolve. Not sure why you have less than when you
set the tank up, but it has never dissolved or broken down over time
in any time I've ever seen.

Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

broken and become smaller??? that's the only answer I can come up with
because when I set up this tank, I had more than I do now... I know I lost
some gravel to washing, but the flourite was and is on the bottom... when I
pulled the UGF plates, and looked at how much there was.... there was less
than I started with.... or just compacted, or smaller...

maybe it just 'seemed' to have dissolve.... maybe?


"Chuck Gadd" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 23:45:59 GMT, "RedForeman ©®"
wrote:

creates more... makes sense, especially now, when after breaking a tank
down, and rebuilding it, I've learned that flourite, breaks down over
time,
and dissolves....

No, it does not dissolve. Not sure why you have less than when you
set the tank up, but it has never dissolved or broken down over time
in any time I've ever seen.

Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua