# how to remove dust? (flora max midnight)



## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

so I have this problem everytime I change water the tiny dust will float around.... after 1 hour it settled ON my plants leafs/java moss making them look ugly and dirty....also cloged my glass diffuser! 

anyone know how to remove this stuff?


----------



## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Quick siphoning? Or you could run a big HOB filter and stir all the dust so it gets caught in the filter.


----------



## trixella (Jan 24, 2011)

Use a saucer... slowly pour the water over the saucer into the tank... that way you won't stir up your substrate.


----------



## Optix (May 31, 2011)

to clean your tank right now tho...youre probably gonna have to do a 100% water change
then refill SLOWLY


----------



## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Amazingly enough I found that "tank water clarifier" stuff, which I always thought was snake oil, actually does work as long as you have a good mechanical filter.


I had a terribly cloudy tank when I just set up my 45g cube a month ago. An LFS that was closing up shop gave me a small box of unsold chemicals like quick-cure and Tank Clarifier, and since it was free, I used it. 

I put some in on a Sunday morning, and by 8 that evening it was quite clear. In the past, it took several days for the water to clear up. I did have to double the dosage though, but there were no fish in it, only plants, at that point.


----------



## Optix (May 31, 2011)

of course flocculants work...thats what they are for, its like saying..."man, that fish food i put in there _really_ feeds my fish!" :hihi: the best stuff that I found was the little red dropper bottles from walmart
...but that wont get the dust off of your plants

stir the water up and a big water change (or two) later, youll be in business


----------



## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

*Invest in a new filter*



Lil' Swimz$ said:


> Quick siphoning? Or you could run a big HOB filter and stir all the dust so it gets caught in the filter.


It's wise to have an extra one for such occasions. In addition to unexpected pump failures.


----------



## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

Eventually enough mulm will settle onto and clog up the substrate that not much will be tossed into the water column during a change, so long as you're gentle with it.

If that isn't happening, how about adding a powerhead to increase flow (which should keep more tiny particles floating around for the filtration to deal with) and, possibly in addition, adding a finer mech media into the filter, whether it's a HOB or canister? I had a giant mess of moss that was capturing tons of particles, so I simply added a ball of filter floss to the (already overpowered) HOB filter I have going. It was finer than the stock sponges I had in there, and the problem definitely lessened.


----------



## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Optix said:


> of course flocculants work...thats what they are for, its like saying..."man, that fish food i put in there _really_ feeds my fish!" :hihi: the best stuff that I found was the little red dropper bottles from walmart
> ...but that wont get the dust off of your plants
> 
> stir the water up and a big water change (or two) later, youll be in business


The thing about STIR the whole tank making dust storm inside my tank and suck out the water right away... isn't that like rinsing the rocks on a bucket and dump the water out, and refill it again??

The thing Im scared is that I _might_ dump out the nutritions in the substrate.


----------



## Optix (May 31, 2011)

most of the nutrients in the substrate wont wash away
the ones that will will be resupplied by the fish (nitrates) and the fish food (phosphates)...but maybe not in sufficient quantity

not sure about the size of the tank...but depending on how high your lighting is...you should consider buying some dry fertilizer for your tank anyway... $30 = 3-5yr (supply for your average tank 10->50gal high->low light)


----------



## trixella (Jan 24, 2011)

I used the exact same substrate on a riparium I just set up. The Flora Max on the bottom of the tank doesn't have any FM floating up because I capped it with a very thin layer of plain black gravel but the FM in the planters attached to the walls right below the water line have clumps that are floating on the surface of the water b/c I haven't capped the planters yet with the black gravel. The easiest solution is probably putting a thin cap on it.


----------

