Seachem Flourite Advice.

[Bunyip]

Hi All

Hoping to introduce live plants for the first time into a new aquarium setup and have read good reviews about Seachem Flourite as a favourable substrate. I was wondering if members had any issues with the following points.

1. Substrate can be sharp: can this be an issue for bottom feeders like loaches or corys?

2. Substrate can cloud up water easily even after repeated washing.

I was considering using a Flourite/fine gravel mix which would hopefully suit the simple planted setup I had planned. Would be interested to know members thoughts as well as any other issues they may have encountered with Flourite.

Thanks.

[KVT1000]

1. Substrate can be sharp: can this be an issue for bottom feeders like loaches or corys?

2. Substrate can cloud up water easily even after repeated washing.

I was considering using a Flourite/fine gravel mix which would hopefully suit the simple planted setup I had planned. Would be interested to know members thoughts as well as any other issues they may have encountered with Flourite.

Thanks.

Hi Bunyip,

I don't have any experience with Seachem Flourite but when i was setting up my low tech planted aquarium i did research flourite. Some forums did mention it was sharp for Corys but i don't have any corys. Other's stated they used it and it was fine. It was on the sharp side but not very sharp. Just have a search on google for flourite with corys and it should bring up some overseas forums with their experiences with flourite.

I actually puchased Eco Complete fine substrate which would be great for Corys .. however Caribsea has since discontined the fine grade. They only sell coarse now.

Secondly, flourite can get very cloudy from my research. It needs to be washed thoroughly for a long time and even then it can be cloudy after putting it in the tank. When i used eco-complete you can just dump it straight in to the tank - no need to wash it.

Many planted aquarium people do recommended pool filter sand for planted aquariums when you keep corys. Again i think this sand needs to be washed a tremendous amount. But i have no experience with it.

I hope this helps.

[pony-tail]

Flourite grows very good plants but needs to be washed thoroughly as the fine particles can cause algae issues .

And it does cause barbel erosion in catfish that dig through the substrate .

I still use it in some of my planted tanks but do not keep corys .

Eco complete does not grow plants as well but is a whole lot less trouble .

[Bunyip]

Thanks for the post KTV1000. I have googled quite a few sites regarding the above mentioned issues with Flourite and continually find conflicting information. The product sounds fantastic from a plant perspective, but I cannot convince myself regarding its compatibility with certain fish species. The potentional continued cloudiness is also off-putting. I might investigate Eco-complete thanks to your suggestion.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Bunyip

[Bunyip]

Flourite grows very good plants but needs to be washed thoroughly as the fine particles can cause algae issues .

And it does cause barbel erosion in catfish that dig through the substrate .

Thanks pony-tail. I am reading more and more about issues with bottom feeders, so may look into an alternative product.

[Delapool]

I've just redone the substrate with seachem flourite (red) of something like 14kgs plus 6kg of a volcanic ash pellet substrate into I guess about 40 odd kg of gravel (plus API laterite gravel). I washed several times but the tank still went cloudy very badly. Added seachem clarity and it was clearing after a day, back to normal after a week.

API laterite clay is worse imo but this isn't far behind. On the other hand all that heavy clay is probably ideal for plants (once it drops down). I've added more plants / substrate fert tabs and it's all fine now. No puffs of clay when digging or anything.

I was also really concerned on the sharpness of it. However in the tank it seems to have softened a bit. I dig into it without noticing anything particularly sharp and yo yo loaches are fine. Not sure how smaller cories would go.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Delapool

[Bunyip]

I've just redone the substrate with seachem flourite (red) of something like 14kgs plus 6kg of a volcanic ash pellet substrate into I guess about 40 odd kg of gravel (plus API laterite gravel)

Thanks for the feedback Delapool. Was planning on using a mix of substrate and gravel also. Whatever issues there are with Flourite it should be reduced in a mix.

[Delapool]

Thanks for the feedback Delapool. Was planning on using a mix of substrate and gravel also. Whatever issues there are with Flourite it should be reduced in a mix.

That's true. My gravel is fairly fine grained and sub-rounded which helps no doubt.

To be honest I've been wondering how smashed up aquaponics clay balls would go. Keep meaning to get a bag to try some(?) and if it doesn't work I'd just ditch in garden. The possible sharp edges is main concern (I think).

[aquaholic99]

Putting the sharp edged substrate into a stocking and burying it under smooth substrate might be a workable solution? Or put into a canister or Hang On Back filter if that's an option. I've never used flourite though.

[Delapool]

Putting the sharp edged substrate into a stocking and burying it under smooth substrate might be a workable solution? Or put into a canister or Hang On Back filter if that's an option. I've never used flourite though.

Could work well under other substrate. I've never tried eco-complete so not sure how they compare?

[Delapool]

Well just cleaned out one of the canister filters and it was caked in mud. Now I know where all that cloudy water from the seachem flourite went . Hopefully back to normal now.

Usually everything gets a very good clean and I reuse but for the first time ever I was tempted to throw out some pads and swap in new ones just to make life a bit easier. Now I just need to get the darn filter back in the cabinet.

[Bunyip]

Well just cleaned out one of the canister filters and it was caked in mud. Now I know where all that cloudy water from the seachem flourite went . Hopefully back to normal now.

Interested to see if the Flourite continues to cloud up when disturbed. I decided to purchase a mix of wet Eco-complete and dry FloraMax by Caribsea. Need to wash the dry FloraMax so will see if I have a similar experience.

[Delapool]

Yes please Keen to know how you get on with them .

[Bunyip]

As previously mentioned I had decided on a mix of Eco-complete and Flora Max. Eco-complete comes mixed in the "black water" and required no washing. The Flora-max was essentially a dry version of Eco-complete and required minimal washing to remove the very finest particles. You could wash the material forever and it would never clean up entirely, but with the finest material gone it settled quickly. Flora Max also came with little packs of Bio-magnet clarifier which helped with the suspended material. Overall I'm very happy with the product and the dark substrate looks great. Just hope the plants like it.