Getting substrate off leaves

Hi

I kept fish as a kid and have decided to get back into it as an adult so I'm still new to the hobby.

My 40lit tank was setup last week and is going through a nitrogen cycle. I was told not to wash the substrate, so after laying down the substrate, hardscape and planting, I slowly put in the water.
The water became extremely cloudy to the point that it was almost completely opaque. Still, I left it and after a day or 2 it was crystal clear.

Unfortunately, some of my plant leaves have black substrate on them and I'm weary of uprooting them to clean them off. One has very fine needles which seem to easily break off when agitated.

- Should I trim the blackened leaves off?
- Uproot the plants, clean them and put them back?
- Leave them and let the blackened leaves fall off?

Cheers and thanks for the advice.

 

No idea why you were told not to wash it. Anyway, have you tried using a gravel vac on them?
Had this issue for the last week. loads of water changes and vacuuming did the trick. I also used a small tube from a bucket of water to blow the dust off the leaves with incoming water and then changed the water.
Hope this helps

 

You can fan water over the leaves using your hands to remove some of the dust from the leaves.
Alternatively vacuum the dust up with a piece of plastic hose.

Removing filter media and replacing it with filter wool, which you swop out every few hours will also remove substrate dust from the water column. (Dependent on what type of filter you are using.)

 

Thanks for the tips. I decided to remove the plants carefully and gently scrub the leaves with an old toothbrush, it worked. I was under the impression that washing the substrate would get rid of all the plant nutrients.

 

You learn lots in this hobby. Don't feel bad. My first tank got gravel and then I had to add soil substrate for plants afterwards. Needless to say I had the same mess at first. I also added the oxygen tubing last which made it difficult to bury properly and resulted in ugly wiring all over. To make things worse I glued my anubias plant to the wrong piece of driftwood which rendered both the plant and the wood useless for what I had intended.

What substrate is it? Some have the ability to simply hold and release nutrients while others come with nutrients in them. That said, you should dose nutrients if your plants require them. Each tank is different.
Generally the washing of substrate is to get the dust out of it and ready for the tank but there are other reasons as well where substrates which change PH or other values need to be washed/rinsed for preparation.

 

Here's the stuff I use, it's a Korean brand: http://www.aquario.co.kr/en-goods-compactsoilplants.php

I should note, I'm working in South Korea right now and decided to get a small 40lit tank to practice the hobby before I return home to CT. I've learned quite a few things through trial and error. In the future, I think the best solution, when setting up a new tank, would be to lay the substrate and hardscape, fill the tank up to substrate level, let it sit for a bit and then drain the water before planting.

I really need to learn more about keeping a high-tech planted tank, which is what I plan on getting in CT.

Can you recommend any books on substrates and high-tech aquariums?