Treating Myself...

[RebeccaLouise]

So yesterday i was abit naughty and got myself two tanks. There not big but i couldnt help myself as there were a bargain. Oops. So i have a aqua vital 25litres and a nano tank. All afternoon ive been scrubbing up the aqua vital and its all sorted. But i have met my nemisis. BLACK GRAVEL! My man wentbout and bought it for me yesterday. I mustve washed it around 30 times with my hosepipe in a bucket and the waters still running black.

Any tips on getting it clear faster?
Also any suggestions of what to use my nano tank for and ideas of what to make it look like?

Rebecca

 

[KirkyArcher]

Rather than just pouring water over the top churning up the gravel/sand then tipping the water out and repeating, I've found that your best off putting an amount of gravel/sand in a sieve and immersing this in a bucket full of water (don't use hot water) and swirling it around then put it in another container of "clean gravel", most of the dirt will fall out into the water and does eventually cloud the water to some degree and repeat as required but it will take about half the time and half the water to get a better job done

 

[ech0o]

After a couple rinses there is not much else you can do.  I use black sand/gravel quite a bit, and I can tell you that once you have rinsed it 3 or 4 times, it is time to put it into the tank and wait for everything to settle.   Get a filter running with some filter floss in it, will be cleared in no time.   Good nano fish are Betta or Killifish, or some kind of dwarf freshwater shrimps.

 

[KittyKat]

Which brand of gravel is it? I used to use black gravel and the water ran clear after about 5 rinses (with lots of stirring) in a bucket. Coloured gravels, such as those branded Roman are coated in dye which washes off after some time.

 

[three-fingers]

Get a cheap/old pillowcase and put the black gravel in it, then run the hose through it until the water coming from the pillowcase is clear .
 
Fastest way I've found!

 

[RebeccaLouise]

Sorry for the late reply guys. I used your method after my attempts KirkyArcher and found it mire succesfull thankyou. Its in the tank now so fingers crossed the water doesnt go black. I havent a filter what runs floss for this tank at the mo. But i may invest when i get some money as these suction cups are no good on this elite filter. It keeps falling off. So frustrating.

Great ideas though from you all next time ill try them and see which works for me.

Well i got this from my local which he bagged up himself so no idea were it originates from. Sorry. But i usually get it from pets at home as i havent much trouble with their green and blue mix which i use in my 64 litres.

For my nano im yet to recieve i have no idea what to put in it decoration and fish so ta for suggestions so far. Any more would be alot of help.

Thankyou all.