cloudy water fluorite

[willy]

I am settinng a 75 g, fluval 404 canister, planted with amazon swords plus javas, anubias and vallisneria, driftwood, etc.. co2 is on the way..however, I,m a little depressed, since the water was cloudy due to the gravel substrate i used, (fluorite red & fluorite) for 2 weeks, so I disassembled everything, tried to clean the gravel thoroughly, put some normal pea -sized rock gravel on top, and planted before filling, and it is still cloudy..have used aqua clear, and didnt work..does the strong current of the fluval have something to do with this, or will it EVENTUALLY settle? will this current affect my discus in the future...? any suggestions and help will be greatly appreciated!!!

[ronrca]

Hi Willy! Welcome to Simplydiscus! ;)

What color is this cloudiness?

[willy]

initially it was very reddish, like the gravel, but after a week, it is white, ok kind of white..and after the cleanup/overhaul I did, it is white also, that was yesterday, and I,m leaving on a trip to colombia for 6 days..this afternoon..so I wont be able to see how it develops, but I have the fear that it will stay that way...but please advise me something, so i wont have cloudy water nightmares all throughout the weekend..thanks!!

[ronrca]

I hope you dont have any fish in the tank! The white cloudiness is actually a bacteria bloom and not from the substrate. Bacteria blooms are typical for new tanks where the filter is not fully cycled yet. It will clear up on its own. Just give it a few days. Test the ammonia levels! ;)

Have fun in Columbia! By the time you come back, you tank should be clear again! ;) ;D

[willy]

great!!! thanks!!! just what i needed...im leaving now, in pease..i've been adding cycle, probably that had something to do with it...

youve been most helpful!!!

[lauris]

I don't post very often, but when it comes to making a mess, I do have some expertise to share. This same thing happened to a planted 55 I set up with sand and laterite substrate, incredibly cloudy water with fine particles of sand. I had a power wet-dry on the back. Basically I changed the water again and again and again. I cleaned off the foam inserts in the filter numerous times as well. It may have taken as many as 10 water changes over two days before it came kind of clear and it was probably another week before the water got crystal. I had fish and plants in the tank the whole time, so I had to use water at the right temp and de-chlored. If there are no fish, I don't know why you couldn't just use cooler water right out of the tap. Each time, I changed 80% or more of the water. This tank had angels and cories in it and they might be better suited to handle that type of disruption, but I don't know that discus wouldn't tolerate it as well as long as the water parameters are not fluctuating too widely. Be careful too, that you aren't destroying the biological filtration base, I tried to rotate the inserts i cleaned in order to keep a couple colonized. Basically, water changes are the answer in my (limited) experience, although don't overlook cleaning out the filter, as the fine particulate matter will have undoubtedly infiltrated whatever medium you have in there and might clog it up or at least diminish its flow.

[ronrca]

No problem! Have lots of fun! Is this a business trip or leisure?

Hi lauris! Welcome!
Willy actually didnt use a fine partical substrate like laterite. Instead he used florite which should not of caused fine sand like particals to float around. ;)

[lauris]

oops. didn't see the subsequent posts re color and bacteria bloom; that would seem to be the case.

[ronrca]

LOL! No problem! ;)

[ChloroPhil]

Willy,

If you can, do as many comprehensive gravel vacs as you can. Flourite tends to get REALLY dusty in transit, as you found out. This dust will eventually settle, but it will clog your plants pores and suffocate them along with being a possible irritant for your fish.

Another possible solution is to fill your filter with polyester pillow batting and run a powerhead in your tank to keep the particles in the water column while your filter manually removes them. A flocculant such as Seachem Clarity or Kent ProClear can help with this.

Seachem really should put a disclaimer on their Flourite bags: Wash Heavily before adding to an aquarium.

[Paulio]

This topic has been covered more times than you can imagine on the various plant forums. Flourite is messy messy messy stuff. If you dont rinse it like mad before you put it in the tank you will have to deal with cloudy water every time you uproot a plant. After setting up several tanks with the stuff I made a "tool" to help rinse the stuff. It is pretty much window screen stapled loosely onto a 1x1 sqaure frame. Dump the flourite on and rinse rinse rinse. Mix it up some and rinse some more. Then when you think it is pretty clear, rinse it a few more times. Do it outside if you are able. Then you can set it up on something and let the hasde run across it. Mix it up every little while. P.I.T.R. but it is about the best substrate for plants there is.


Concerning the possibility of a bacterial bloom, get some Rotala or Ludwigia in there until the surfaces can cycle. That should handle any blooms other than algae (green water)

Paul

[korbi_doc]

;D ;D I realize it's too late cuz you're off on your trip; I hope you have a great time. A vortex diatom filter would clear these problems up pronto, or a HOT magnum micron filter. Either is I think a necessary item for such emergencies. I wouldn't be without my vortex, JMHO, Dottie 8)