Anybody Used Seachem Fluorite?

It seem that I have been bitten by the MTS bug. I went out a got 75 gallon with stand a Fluval 406 filter and a Aqueon submersible heater. I wanted to make sure I had a good substrate for planting with and got 6 bags of Seachem Fluorite. Now all I have is a cloudy mess, has anybody used this stuff? Want to start cycling the tank but I am thinking of taking it apart and getting something different maybe sand.

Any input would be great.
Thanks

 

I've used it and had the same problem. It needs to be rinsed really well to prevent cloudiness but the silt is where all the good stuff is for the plants. A possible suggestion is use a sand cap with it, but there's a good chance that over time it will eventually rise to the surface as larger objects tend to do in sand.

You could try taking it all out, throw it in an old pillow case, and grab the hose, rising till it runs clean. Any disturbance of the substrate will send up a plume of red dust but it isn't too terrible once things get settles.

About a year ago I bought a small bag of flourite black "sand" for a nano tank. I ended up capping it with pool filter sand and the plants seem to enjoy it.

 

Yes, I mixed mine with eco-complete, but I washed the heck out of it before adding it to my tank. You could put a polisher pad in your filter to clear it up faster, but I'm afraid it may take a few days.

 

Yes, I mixed mine with eco-complete, but I washed the heck out of it before adding it to my tank. You could put a polisher pad in your filter to clear it up faster, but I'm afraid it may take a few days.

I rinsed it ... went after the first bag really hard and was afraid I was washing it all away down the drain. It seemed like it was melting away so the other bags just gave a light rinse to. I will Fill the filter up with floss and let it run.
Thanks for the input.

 

Anytime! I was afraid I was doing the same thing but was afraid of a cloudy mess. Oh, and I used flourite black. IDK if they have different consistencies. Good luck!

 

I've used it and had the same problem. It needs to be rinsed really well to prevent cloudiness but the silt is where all the good stuff is for the plants. A possible suggestion is use a sand cap with it, but there's a good chance that over time it will eventually rise to the surface as larger objects tend to do in sand.

You could try taking it all out, throw it in an old pillow case, and grab the hose, rising till it runs clean. Any disturbance of the substrate will send up a plume of red dust but it isn't too terrible once things get settles.

About a year ago I bought a small bag of flourite black "sand" for a nano tank. I ended up capping it with pool filter sand and the plants seem to enjoy it.

I like the idea of a sand cap keep the good stuff down with the roots and the sand to show.

 

A good fix is to get bag of filter fiber or something similar, looks like the stuff that is used in pillows. Take everything out of your filter and stuff this stuff full of it, wet it and keep stuffing. Let the filter run for a day or two, then check the filter fiber and see out dirty it is, if need be replace and repeat. This will clean up you water crystal clear.

 

Had the same problem so I took it out and rinsed it with a house and put it back in and didn’t have a problem

 

Same as Lindsey I mixed mine with eco complete so the problem isn't a significant as you. Either way I ran my filter for a few days with purigen and polishing media and it clears up.

 

I use flourite sand. It was only hazy for a couple of days. It's great as long as you plan on dosing root tabs as well. Flourite doesn't have much for nutrients/ferts in it but it does an amazing job at retaining any ferts you put in it from root tabs for a long time.

 

I have never used fluorite so this is just a suggestion.

I normally use common sand and I rinse it for about an hour , using a sluice type bin plus water motion to reduce the silt.

Even so I still get some silt.

But I've done a couple tanks now with black diamond blasting sand, & everybody complains about having to rinse out the silt. I did not rinse it.

I only wanted the largest crystals out of this bag of sand so I sieved it dry through aluminum window screen to drop away all the fines.

I had virtually no cloudiness in the water when I filled these tanks. I filled first with the sand and then added water, but the other one I filled it with water first and then used a tube and funnel to fill it with sand on the bottom.

I had to skI'm the surface with a fishnet after, but that was the only problem.

I suspect the same treatment would work with fluorite but I don't know what type of screen would be the best for screening that substrate.

 

Thanks everyone for the ideas I did put some filter fiber in but just after all the sponges. Think I will pull the sponges as well and just stuff the filter full. I have the root tabs just haven't put them in yet. Working on my list of plants I want to add. Will post more pics when I get it done.

 

Same as Lindsey I mixed mine with eco complete so the problem isn't a significant as you. Either way I ran my filter for a few days with purigen and polishing media and it clears up.

Hi! I just set mine up and see you did the same method of mixing the substrates. How are your plants doing? I hope to see a lot of growth, but it has only been going for a few days now.

 

Couldn't take it anymore the cloudy water drives me crazy. Every little stir and poof chocolate milk. Took it out and went with black sand. Have it all planted waiting for the fishless cycle to complete.

 

Sometimes you just got to do what you got to do.