Ohad Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Hi all again (sorry for the daily questions, haha) So for my new build, I decided to go with the Fluval stratum, maybe with the new stratum bio on top. (Yes, the commercials work on me ) This will be my first time using it, and online, I see raving reviews alongside horror stories about water changed to mud. Any tips on how to work with it and keep everything clean will be appreciated! Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoDawgsGo Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 It'll settle down. Don't rinse it. Just let your filter do its job. Are you putting it in with water already in the aquarium or adding water after? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohad Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 On 1/24/2023 at 5:47 PM, GoDawgsGo said: It'll settle down. Don't rinse it. Just let your filter do its job. Are you putting it in with water already in the aquarium or adding water after? Adding water after. What's the best way? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoDawgsGo Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Use something like a pasta strainer to add the water to help keep it from getting worse. There are probably a ton of ways to accomplish the goal of just not blasting the new water with force down on the stratrum and have it slowly fill up instead. Depends on the tools at your disposal though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohad Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 Got it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 On 1/24/2023 at 5:36 PM, Ohad said: Any tips on how to work with it and keep everything clean will be appreciated! Will you have digging animals? Do you like to uproot and replant plants often? If so, you might want to do a cap over the aqua soil. Or like @GoDawgsGo said, just give it time and let the filter do its job. Also, and I might be mixing up my aquasoils here, but many (all?) of them are magnetic, so if some pellets end up where you don't want them on a sand cap, say, you can use a magnet to pick them up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohad Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 I did the build this Saturday. Cleanest substrate I've ever used, not even a little cloudy. Clear waters right away. I did top the normal stratum with the new bio with the smaller grain. So far, I am super happy. Easy to plant in a way even with the micro-baby tears. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 On 1/24/2023 at 2:36 PM, Ohad said: So for my new build, I decided to go with the Fluval stratum, maybe with the new stratum bio on top. (Yes, the commercials work on me ) I got mine from the big box store, probably a lot easier and always in stock. I gently rinsed mine, a bit controversial there but it was fine and easy to do. Still going to have some fines from it, but it's just like anything else... some dust, but not really a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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