Planted Tank

[YCRY]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone can help me. I recently added gravel into my tank. From that day foward I have always had a built up of foam floating in one corner on the surface of my tank. My tank is heavliy populated with plants and my water is all good. Anyone had the same problem? :(

[wombat1100]

Hi YCRY, was the gravel washed b4 adding? maybe there was something on it?
Dazz

[GoGuppy]

hI YCRY
As Wombat suggested it's probably dirt that came in with the gravel. I'd suggest try skimming it off with a wide shallow (CLEAN) container, which you'll most likely need to do a few times per day over the next few days, as well as a daily partial water change, until the foam is gone and does not return.

Cheers

[pinoyako1982]

Thats why it is very important to clean your gravel.. I have a friend who washed his gravel very roughly, the outcome was very dirty and unclear water for days and weeks..

caused him alot of problems..

so i suggest you keep doing your water changes..

[wombat1100]

You can get a product that binds all the particles together making it easier for the filter to trap the dirt, i think its called Clearwater but I'm not 100%sure.
But water changes and lots of them is the chemical free way and my preferred.
Dazz

[ebonairre]

You can get a product that binds all the particles together making it easier for the filter to trap the dirt, i think its called Clearwater but I'm not 100%sure.
But water changes and lots of them is the chemical free way and my preferred.
Dazz[/b]

There's another product by seachem called Purigen - I absolutely swear by it. Clears the water and also removes harmful crap like heavy metals and tannin from driftwood. It also has very little affect on your nutrients so for you, having a planted tank, it wont affect any of the fertilizers/co2 you might be adding to your tank. I added a small bag to my 140L tank for exactly the same problem - I had some clouding issues (plus I had some tannin leakage) and it cleared up in 24 hours. It's fairly expensive however, the same 100ml bag of beads treats 400L of water plus, with a little care, it can be cleaned with household bleach to be reused. The instructions for use, plus cleaning it come with the package so you don't have to guess anything when you're cleaning the beads.

If you have less than 400L tank and want some cheap netting to put the beads in, try stockings - much cheaper than netting bags from the LFS and can be made to size for your filter.

This doesn't negate the need for regular water changes, as this will help keep the water quality pristine.

Hope this helps,

Anna

[YCRY]

Sweet. Thanks guys