Help with Flourite

'Dirt' grows plants.

Let the Flourite dry out, place in aquarium, fill with water slowly over a plate.

Try a search for Flourite on this site and see the other options.

Andrew Cribb

Flourite is notoriously hard to get completely free of sediment before you put it in your tank. If you do not take the time to thoroughly rinse it, however, you will wind up with a cloudy tank that lasts and lasts. I take mine a bit at a time and place it in a bucket. I then spray the bucket with water from a hose making sure to churn the gravel a lot to release all the sediment. When the water starts to come out of the bucket pretty clear, I stop and repeat with another load of gravel.

I've never tried the "dry out" method proposed by pineapple, but if you do, I'd like to hear your experience with it.

Also you can put it in a colander and hose it off.

I quit washing it after a few times and just filled the tank really slowly. No cloudiness at all.

Flourite will never become completly clear, besides you don't want to wash all the good stuff away. I used a strainer in my kitchen sink and used the sprayer to hose it down for a few minutes. Once you put it in the tank pour the water in slowly over a bowl or plate. You may have some clouding of the water but it should not last more than a few hours.

I have washed a lot of Flourite. And I have found that a paint strainer and a 5 gallon bucket do the trick. You wash away the fine dust but keep the fine particles. I cover the method in my FAQ,

Thanks

Thanks to ya'll of you... I will get the stuff washed and in my tank this weekend. If nothing happens.. Also thanks to the ones who send me plants, I got some light for my tanks and now I am putting down this stuff. Jo Ann