Black Water - Chemi-Pure Elite

So I ordered some Chemi-Pure Elite for my 12 gallon tank. I followed the instructions on the jar. I rinsed lightly, and placed it in my tank. I put it in chamber 1 in the back below filter floss and some purigen.

Now my water is super dark due to it. Why is it doing this? Will it clear up in time or do I need to pull it and do a 100% water change? My fish is swimming around just fine, but the tank is super cloudy.

Please help.

 

Is there carbon in it? I know my carbon i get your supposed to rinse lightly but it takes like 3 minutes

 

Rinse lightly for as long as it takes to run clear. They mean rinse lightly as to not rub together and mash the contents. It contains ferric oxide and the dust is what's clouding the water. Remove it, water change, rinse the bag completely and then put it back. It usually takes about 5 minutes to rinse fully.

 

Ok, thanks. They really need to work on defining "rinse lightly". I did a partial water change, rinsed it until it ran clear, and put it back in. The water is clearing up slowly, and everything seems OK. I suppose it's not great for it to be in suspension in the water, but it's probably not terribly harmful since it's meant for the tank as it is.

 

You will be fine. Put a piece of filter sock in to trap all the small floating debris like a water polishing pad and tomorrow it will look brand new. I like chemipure elite, its a great product. I combine it with purigen and man does it keep the water clean with no effect on trace elements.

 

The only drawback to Chemi-Pure Elite is that it contains Ferric Oxide, which can irritate the gill structures of fishes with closed opercula (e.g., SH, anglers, some Scorpaeniformes to name a few). Otherwise it's great stuff...love it.

If you keep any fishes with closed opercula, you'll want to use a product that contains Ferric Oxide Hydroxide, which won't irritate their gills.

 

Greg, I use chemipure in all my tanks since I only have HOB filters. I'll have sumps soon enough. What signs do I need to keep an eye out for? I got a new red angler and also my lionfish are in there too.

 

Chemi-pure does not contain ferric oxide.Chemi pure elite does.

 

I got this info from speaking with Russell Boyd (Boyd makes chemi-pure) back awhile. We were going to get "elite" and he knew we were going to use it on our SH tanks, and told us to go with the "regular" chemi-pure, and explained why.

As for signs, I'd assume you might notice redness, maybe some labored breathing. However, I believe it's the finely-divided powder that is the concern.

FWIW, I've chatted with Jay Hemdal about fine carbon powder, and he mentioned that it's not so good either, so he doesn't recommend tumbling carbon in reactors as there's a constant influx of powdered carbon into the DT.

 

Thanks for the info greg. BTW, I got both of my lion fish on frozen foods. They like silversides. Now I'm working on my angler.