RE: [APD] Reusing substrate to rinse or not to rinse

["Quinn, Sherry" <Sherry_Quinn at ingenix.com>]

Thank you very much for the thorough response!

The 30 is still up and running and I'm getting great plant growth from it.
When I tranfer the gravel to the new tank I plan on topping it off with some
rinsed gravel.  So, that should help prevent the mulm from getting in the
water column. The only reason why I'm tearing the 30 down is that my husband
made a bargin with me - take down four tanks in order to get a 72 bow front
reef aquarium.  So, the old 40 gallon reef will become my new planted
aquarium.

Another question.
Currently the lights on the 40 are 2 96watt pc's with a reflector from
AHsupply - one bulb is actinic and the other white - I don't recall the
exact info on them.  This will give me 4.8 watts per a gallon - which is
over kill.  So, I probably only need to operate one of the bulbs, right?
So, what kind of pc bulb should I use?  Thank you so much!

Sherry

-----Original Message-----
From: S. Hieber [mailto:shieber at yahoo_com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 11:52 AM
To: aquatic plants digest
Subject: RE: [APD] Reusing substrate to rinse or not to rinse


A lot can happen in 2 years. The substrate could be
overloaded with organic products or be prime, optimally
enriched substrate. It could be fertile or fetid.

I'm assuming the substrate hasn't been siting is still
water for ages. If the stuff is terrribly dirty and smells
awful, give it a quick rinse. Mulm is much lighter than
gravel and tends to rinse out relatively easily. Otherwise
no rinising is necessary -- If you had left you 30 gallon
set up, would you have felt a need to rinse the gravel?

The worst that will happen if you rinse and didn't have to
is that your substrate will be back to square one, or
almost, in terms of organic enrichment, and you might have
a back ache from the rinsing.

The worst that will happen if you don't rinse, and you stir
a lot of the mulm into the water column, is a greenwater
outbreak or sharp spike in nitrogen. Check your NO3 levels
every day or two until things settle down. If the substrate
does have a lot of organic material, it also has lots of
bacteria and you should have a good biofilter going in the
new tank in no time. But I'd watch the NO3 levels for few
about a week to be sure.

Scott H.
--- "Quinn, Sherry" <Sherry_Quinn at ingenix.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>   I'm moving the contents of my 30 gallon tank to a 40
> breeder.  It has been
> set-up for 2 years with a flourite and regular gravel
> substrate.  Should I
> rinse the substrate before putting it in the new tank or
> can I just move it?
> 


=====
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She Wrote the book on low maintenance aquatic gardening!
Diana Walstad, author of _Ecology of the Planted Aquarium_
Meet her at  - The Fifth AGA Annual Convention
Details & Registration at www.aquatic-gardeners.org & www.gwapa.org


	
		
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