[GSAS-Member] Thoughts on tank clarification?

[Shamus Young <machismo@eskimo.com>]

so I read a bunch of stuff on substrates online, and decided to try a
layer of peat mixed with sand covered by a layer of flourite, for a 12 g
that I was going to plant with low-light plants.

I think I screwed up the application of the substrate.  I rinsed the sand,
then mixed with the peat, and I think there was a little too much water
left in the sand, and it was kind of a slurry.  I put that in the tank,
let is settle a few hours, and added the flourite over it, a couple of
inches thick.  But there was a good kind of muddy layer that got mixed
into the flourite.

When I topped off the tank, carefully and slowly, with a dish on the
gravel, it looked like a mud puddle.

Like the light would shine down in it a half an inch.

I left it to settle over the weekend. It didn't settle.

I brought in the magnum HOT and set up the polishing cartridge, and ran it
overnight. It really didn't suck up much at all. I think the color was a
little lighter.  I replaced the cartridge and the filter floss, and ran
the filter over night again.  Same color.  Filter is flowing pretty
strong, which would indicate that it's not catching the soil particles.

I'd say the light penetrates a couple of inches now, but it's reached a
sort of stasis.

Three water changes, and it's still the same color & cloudiness.

I've had tanks with a bag of peat in the filter, and way back in the day,
I've had tanks with a baterial bloom for new tank syndrome.  There's
clearly the tinge of blackwater going there, and I'm pretty sure it's not
a bacterial haze.

I think it's some sort of thing dissolving out of the peat that's trapped
in the upper part of the gravel that's water accessible, so that it's
replenished when I do water changes.  If it was a bacterial cloud, those 3
x 90% water changes should have diluted it pretty well, and no dilution.

It looks like a collodial suspension.  Obviously, I haven't put fish or
plants in here yet.

I searched the kirb, and there was an archived post that said don't use
the water conditioners, but it was full of bad advice.

I know it's supposed to work on bacteria pretty well, though it's a
syjmptom fix, nt a long term balance solution.  It looks like most of them
just use Ammonium Sulfate.

Anyone have any idea what might be gunking up the water, and if the
clarifiers might work, and/or how to filter it?  I do not want to bring a
diatom filter in for a 10 gallon work tank.

Thanks,

Shamus


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