You are probably not getting enough water flow from just a hose .And are you using the sluice in your back yard or in the creek.You should have at least 1' drop for each foot of sluice .Some times more depending on water flow .You only use soap in a recirkulating system that you keep using the same water .And I would bet that the gold you see going out of the box is fools gold .It is light enough to float away .The real gold will stay with the dirt.

Chris, watch some you tube videos and observe the water flow going thru the sluice. There is a logical limit to the size of material which you should be dropping into the sluice. Did you run the material through a classifier screens first to sort out the large material from the smaller stuff? The "gold" that you see floating away is mica or pieces of biotite. At first glance it is kind of tricky to your eyes but if you get a piece between your fingers you will note that it crumbles and flakes apart easily. Definitely not gold. 

Hi Chris

Leo and Joe are right on, you need to adjust water and angle. It can be water, may have to direct with rocks more water toward sluice or it could be slope usually a combination of both. A sluice also operates much better when material is classified. Rocks in classifier sometimes hold onto small gold so have a cup or some way to rinse spoil off into material to be used. You tube or on this web site a finishing sluice http://www.goldprospector...uice-Box   or Keene Engineering has this web site help for sluicing.

http://www.keeneeng.com/p.../slucingForGold.html
you may have to copy and paste link to address bar. 

thank you everyone ya i noticed the "gold" floating away would break when using my fingers so i guess it wasnt gold i did use a classifier so hopefully that will help ill have to check see how much drop i need thank you again everyone

Chris,

I would suggest watching this video on Basic Prospecting. It was taken from a seminar at a recent Gold and Treasure Show. Very informative and it covers a bit on sluicing. Hope the visualization helps you in the field....

http://www.goldprospector...ing-With-Rob-Goreham

just an update i got a pump so i use the same water i just need to know the basics of sluicing i got the drop down.....I think i got a 4 in drop on it how do i know if the material is to big or if the water isnt running fast enough it seems to build on the rafters but doesnt move down idk if its suppose to i feel like it should move down at least a little faster it seems to just sit on the first and second rafter and doesnt move for a long time untill more material is added is that right or is the water/drop not correct?

Classify your material out, if material is to large a stone there will not be enough velocity of water to move the stone or it will move the gold. Gold is much heaver than country rock even the heaver stone like hematite. Even so when material gets much larger than the gold being caught the mass weight may come into effect causing some nullification of the effects of the specific gravity weight of the gold. With a non power sluice you have less control over variables so size of material is more important.

Chris,

All the previous suggestions have been spot on. When I first started, the first few months I had all kinds of issues with my setup. I eventually purchased a stand to help with a more consistent setup. To state the obvious, if you see another person on a local GPAA claim it never hurts to ask for help. I was not on a GPAA claim and another person I was talking to just began helping me out with everything. Because of him I am always willing to help someone if I can. Now I'm still learning a lot, but when it comes to my sluice setup, I have become very confident and I've seen it catch very small specks of gold.

Just a reminder, there are guidelines (i.e. 1" drop for every foot of sluice); however, these guidelines are NOT absolutes. One of the other guidelines I use is the water will create a "V" shape caused by the flare where the bottom of the "V" will be between the 2nd and 3rd riffle. I use a Keene A52 preferably and when using it I will still prefer to classify my material down to an "8" screen for best results. Also, there will be some material that will build up behind the riffles, just watch to make sure the material is "dancing" around suggesting the material is moving out as newer heavier material is passing through. Oh, another guideline I was taught, and that I try to remember, is the water passing through the sluice should not be more than 1.5 times higher than the size of the riffles.

I hope that an experienced member may meet you while on a claim and can assist you in showing/explaining your setup. There may be many different suggestions by many different people, just take their advise and try it out until you find which method works best for you or the environment of your location.

Good luck and I hope you find a lot of color!