Re: [GSAS-Member] Thoughts on tank clarification?

["Betty Goetz" <haika@drizzle.com>]

Awhile back, I set up 6 10g planted tanks at home and work. I dabbled with
several formulas based on information from Walstad's 'Ecology of the
Planted Aquarium'. I used either a soaked peatmoss or potting soil layer
on the bottom which I soaked in a separate bucket to make a slurry and
drained off all water before putting it in the bottom of the tank. While
in the bucket I netted off all those icky perlite particles and other
floaters like bark bits from the potting soil. I picked a potting soil
without manures or other additives...just loam, compost and perlite. Then
I simply put a couple inches of fine natural gravel (the stuff you can buy
by the pound at Blue Sierra) over that. Put in a big pie plate and slowly
added water. The tanks I treated that way were NOT cloudy and were good to
go almost immediately. Tank 5 - I used straight Fluorite (hard like
gravel) and mixed in some rainsed laterite (the stuff that looks like
kitty litter). No matter how much I rinsed the laterite, it still was
cloudy. I gave up and put it in the tank and I swear it took weeks to
clear. Yuck! That's when I bought my first micron filter (desperation) but
the tank cleared before I got around to bringing the micron filter in to
work. I ended up donating that micron filter to the club awhile back
(grin). At the same time, I used a mix of fine gravel/laterite in the last
tank. Same cloudy mess. I wish I'd jotted down how many weeks/months those
tanks took to clear. The bottom line is that they DID settle out
eventually. I use smallish outside powerfilters on those tanks with just
filter floss in the filter box. I'll stick with the peat or potting
soil/fine gravel substrate from now on. I did do a couple tanks with
EcoComplete but that substrate fizzles out quickly and you are stuck
dosing with fertilizers to keep the plants alive. The fluorite and
laterite don't seem to please my plants that much either. My peat/potting
soil tanks have been going for roughly 4 years now. I hardly ever remember
to fertilize. I have rotala growing OUT of the tank here at work. I stick
with low-light low-tech tolerant plants and those are just fine with me.

Betty Goetz

> Thanks for the input, Tom.
>
> I had read two articles that used a sand/peat mix as a lower layer, then
> fluorite, and one of them used sand on top of that, as macker mentioned.
> I can't find the links, and apparently didn't bookmark them.
>
> IIRC, the sand mixed in and gave the peat more weight and a better texture
> for the roots to go through.
>
> I was just trying to do a low tech source of organics below the flourite
> to help the plants grow. The best success I've had with plants has been
> with a tank where I was giving blackwater extract.
>
> I'm limited in that it's an eclipse, with a 13w light, so I was just going
> anubius, javas, and some crypts, all of which are floating in my home tank
> now.
>
> Man, starting over's going to be a pain in the ass, since I've been
> bussing this stuff into work bit by bit for weeks.
>
> I may just try to ride it out for a couple of weeks, but not put anything
> non-anubius in there until I see if it will stabalize/ clear up. But I
> will keep a tear down in mind.
>
> Shamus
>
> On Wed, 5 Nov 2008, Tom Watson wrote:
>
>> Shamus,
>>
>> I would start over. I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with
>> a
>> mix of peat and sand but if peat is necessary to create the environment
>> you
>> need I would not mix it with sand.  I would dampen it as much as
>> necessary
>> to wet it and make it malleable and then cover it with paper towels and
>> then
>> cover it in a mix of 50/50 sand and fluorite 4 inches deep.  The paper
>> towels will decompose over time and slow the release of nutrients into
>> the
>> water so that the system will slowly self adjust.
>>
>> Here's a link to a description of one of my native fish tanks.  Since I
>> made
>> the page I have added fish to the tank.  Presently there are 40 fish
>> from
>> 1.5 to 3.5 inches in the 20 gallon tank.  This is like 4 or 5 times the
>> volume of fish that should be able to survive in this size tank:
>>
>> http://home.comcast.net/~onefish2fish/fishweb/
>>
>> I do a 10% water change once a week and make my own filter cartridges
>> that I
>> change at water change time.
>>
>> If you are just wanting to make a successful planted tank, do it with
>> good
>> soil and you are only limited by the watts per gallon you are willing to
>> pay
>> for.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com
>> [mailto:gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of Shamus Young
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 4:20 PM
>> To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat
>> Subject: [GSAS-Member] Thoughts on tank clarification?
>>
>> 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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