Flourite

[knewby]

Should I use this as 100% substrate or mix in some sand as a mixed substrate. Which one works better?

[vickie s]

You can mix flourite up to 50% with gravel to cut the cost. Sand will filter down to the bottom with time and plant maintenance. I usually use 50% uncoated black gravel to mix with the flourite. I know that some people use sand to top substrate additives like laterite and peat.

Have you washed flourite before? It is a pain but there are ways to make it easier. Just ask for methods if you need some.

[stir-fry]

I believe I also 50% Flourite with 50% percent gravel when I did my setup.

Make sure you clean it properly, when I dig up plants I still get a cloud of dirt releasing from the gravel because I didn't properly wash the flourite over a year ago.

[browneu]

I use 100% flourite and notice a big difference in my plants. Washing flourite is a pain but very necessary. I filled a plastic bowl halfway full of flourite and then filled with water till the bowl was 3/4 full of the flourite water mix. I then panned the water around the bowl as if I was panning for gold. The lighter dust will float to the top and the heavier granules will stay on the bottom. I then poured the water out leaving behind the flourite pebbles. This was repeated until the water being poured out was clear. I did it this way because I didn't have a strainer to strain it. (Flourite granules are smaller than your usual aquarium gravel.)

[ChloroPhil]

Mr.dude,

If you can afford it, use it 100%. If not, cutting it up to 50% works well too. If you do end up cutting it, try not to use a fine grained mixer, the two will tend to separate and will look nasty. I've used dark brown aquarium gravel in the past with Flourite and it looks great.

[knewby]

Can I just top the flourite with gravel to make it look nice.

[browneu]

It should work as long as you have enough flourite on bottom for your plants to root nicely. Just keep in mind that flourite is usually smaller than aquarium gravel and may surface after some time.

[ChloroPhil]

Vickie,

Yes, you can just top off the Flourite with gravel if that's your desire. As long as you've got at least two inches of Flourite in the bottom.