Neophyte
Seedling
Hi All,
I'm setting up a 4' * 2' * 18" tank to replace my 3'
I'm going to use Akadama with a Peat moss base as the substrate. I bought 3 * 14ltr bags of the hard quality double red line as sugested in many posts.
I emptied all 3 bags into a plastic bin, by which time the bin was full to withing a inche of the top. Stuck the hose pipe in & beagn to rinse it out by agitating the akadama by hand. As expected, the water turned redish/orange & stayed that way. After an hour, I just left the hose pipe in & allowed it to rinse. Several hours later, & the water was still very cloudy redish brown. Turned the hose pipe of, & left it to the next day. The "dust" had settled & there was a sludgey mud on top of the Akadama, I stirred it up, emptied the water out & began the rinsing again, same thing, redish brown water. By this time the Akadama level is at approx 2/3 of the way up the bucket, a drop of around 4" I expected it to settle, but this seems a lot. Anyhow, after a few more hours of rinsing, the water is still a muddy reddish brown & doesn't seem to be clearing? The Akadama level has dropped again It isn't being washed away with the water, there's no Akadama outside the bucket at all, just a muddy sludge. If I leave it to stand, the water clears & just leaves a mud on top of the Akadama.
I'm worried that the Akadama is eroding away to a dust as I rinse it, has anyone else come across this? Has anyone who used Akadama & rinsed it got the water to run clear?
TIA
I'm setting up a 4' * 2' * 18" tank to replace my 3'
I'm going to use Akadama with a Peat moss base as the substrate. I bought 3 * 14ltr bags of the hard quality double red line as sugested in many posts.
I emptied all 3 bags into a plastic bin, by which time the bin was full to withing a inche of the top. Stuck the hose pipe in & beagn to rinse it out by agitating the akadama by hand. As expected, the water turned redish/orange & stayed that way. After an hour, I just left the hose pipe in & allowed it to rinse. Several hours later, & the water was still very cloudy redish brown. Turned the hose pipe of, & left it to the next day. The "dust" had settled & there was a sludgey mud on top of the Akadama, I stirred it up, emptied the water out & began the rinsing again, same thing, redish brown water. By this time the Akadama level is at approx 2/3 of the way up the bucket, a drop of around 4" I expected it to settle, but this seems a lot. Anyhow, after a few more hours of rinsing, the water is still a muddy reddish brown & doesn't seem to be clearing? The Akadama level has dropped again It isn't being washed away with the water, there's no Akadama outside the bucket at all, just a muddy sludge. If I leave it to stand, the water clears & just leaves a mud on top of the Akadama.
I'm worried that the Akadama is eroding away to a dust as I rinse it, has anyone else come across this? Has anyone who used Akadama & rinsed it got the water to run clear?
TIA