# Reusing ADA Aquasoil



## Nano Jake (12 Aug 2009)

I plan on stripping down my 60cm and doing a new scape. Can I use the old aquasoil without any issues?

Has anyone done this? 

Jake.


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## Superman (12 Aug 2009)

If it's AquaSoil 2, then it can cloud according to reports.

There shouldn't really be a problem re-using aquasoil.


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## ceg4048 (12 Aug 2009)

Hi,
    Old aquasoil, depending on what conditions it was previously under, may be depleted in terms of it's factory imbued nutrient store, but it's still a clay sediment with mulm and so probably should be considered as a normal non-enriched clay sediment. If it was used under low nutrient demand conditions it may still have som nutrient store left but it's probably a safer bet to assume this has been depleted. Remember that clay sediments have a high CEC anyway so it's still usable. Structural integrity will be a bit of a lottery though I suppose. If it's still in good shape now then it ought to be OK.

Cheers,


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## JamesM (12 Aug 2009)

I've resused Malaya and it ended up in a cloudy mess.

LondonDragon has reused Amazonia II and it ended up in a cloudy mess.


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## aaronnorth (12 Aug 2009)

JamesM said:
			
		

> I've resused Malaya and it ended up in a cloudy mess.
> 
> LondonDragon has reused Amazonia II and it ended up in a cloudy mess.



I use brand new malaya and it is a mess   

Some people add root tabs to give the substrate a boost,


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## Stu Worrall (12 Aug 2009)

mm, i was thinking of re-using the 18 litres of amazonia in my new tank topped off with a new 9l bag.  I was going to put in some tropica tabs though that I got cheap so hopefully that will help


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## bobiciupe (23 Nov 2016)

hello!

I saw it;s an old topic, but i am thinking about reseting my tank and i was wondering if you guys ever reused the ada amazonia aquasoil, and i was hoping since the topic was started some of you done this.Any answer would be apreciated. Thanks !


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## MrHidley (23 Nov 2016)

bobiciupe said:


> hello!
> 
> I saw it;s an old topic, but i am thinking about reseting my tank and i was wondering if you guys ever reused the ada amazonia aquasoil, and i was hoping since the topic was started some of you done this.Any answer would be apreciated. Thanks !



Yes, many have done it, including me. Just give it a good old wash. I put a layer of tropica substrate under it to add nutrients. Drying it was the hard part, I actually ended up baking it in the oven because it was too cold and damp to dry it outside. The smell was awful.


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## Stefan34 (18 Jan 2021)

Hi all.I just wondering during the reusing the aquarium soil {tropica} the process is to do properly wash in the basket...Question what it means proper wash?I fill the div basket with small tiny holes on the bottom and let I run the shower on the soil and sometimes mix it with my hand to get all small particle rubbish out..The question the water was still black and cloudy..Is that normal or do i did so, something wrong? The cleaning process and water run around 15 min.The water was still black..Thank you@


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## Kezzab (18 Jan 2021)

You can't 'clean' it as such, because it just disintegrates as you wash it. Give it a bit of a rinse to get the worst crap off. But if you keep washing it it'll just disappear.

Once you've done it, dry it in your oven spread on a baking tray. Or if you aren5 in a hurry, just somewhere warm.


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## Libba (18 Jan 2021)

Kezzab said:


> You can't 'clean' it as such, because it just disintegrates as you wash it. Give it a bit of a rinse to get the worst crap off. But if you keep washing it it'll just disappear.
> 
> Once you've done it, dry it in your oven spread on a baking tray. Or if you aren5 in a hurry, just somewhere warm.



What's the purpose of drying it out? Why wouldn't you just add it in wet and keep the microbe colony intact?


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## Kezzab (18 Jan 2021)

Yep, thats true. Drying out makes it easier to scape with though.
Depends what you are trying to achieve.


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## Stefan34 (18 Jan 2021)

Thank you, everyone!It makes mi life much easy as i don't have to worry..I have plenty of time for the drying process.


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## alto (19 Jan 2021)

This is pretty much how I’ve always done it, I prefer to at least partly dry the soil before rescaping as (unlike FAAO) it always takes me awhile and a few do-overs - I slope the soil dramatically, leaving a few inches glass at the front, siphon away all possible water, then leave a towel in place overnight ... by morning much of the soil is damp-dry
(note I use 7th Generation laundry detergent (sparingly) which rinses out well, also double rinse all fish towels, and never use any “fabric softeners”)

Note that Tropica Soil retains its structure very well compared to some other aquarium soils, but any water saturated AS particle crushes much more easily than its dry counterpart 

I usually add new soil at the front of the tank for dense carpet plants as I prefer very shallow substrate here, and it’s just easier than working with root tabs.
In his recent home tank rescapes, Filipe Oliveira mentions the importance of capping the used soil with new (more important if you don’t dry soil between scapes)


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