# whats my best option?



## AdAndrews (27 May 2009)

whats the best substrate for me to have? 125 litre tank, 80cm x 50cm(high) x 35cm??????

i have looked at ada amazonian, is this anygood?


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## zerosimon (15 Jun 2009)

yes if you can afford it.


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## Dan Crawford (15 Jun 2009)

ADA Amazonia  
Some people say Oliver Knotts stuff is good but i've not used it so i can't comment.


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## Mark Evans (15 Jun 2009)

I've used both Ada and nature soil... Nature soil hands down. It's far better


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## AdAndrews (15 Jun 2009)

i am going to save up a bit more and buy the nature soil, but this isnt for a 125litre anymore, i have decided just to re-do my nano 35litre
thanks


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## Dan Crawford (15 Jun 2009)

saintly said:
			
		

> I've used both Ada and nature soil... Nature soil hands down. It's far better


I think your one of the only people on here who has used both Mark and it's evident that you've had some good results with both. Could you give us some details on the long/short term differences between them? What is the difference appearance wise? Do you have any comparisons between the two? Iknow there a lot of people out there who would be interesting to know.
Cheers.


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## Mark Evans (15 Jun 2009)

yeah, sorry for the short sharp answer...was up 250 feet church spire on my I phone   

Anyway, I don't have scientific proof, but I do have my eyes.

firstly, there's been lots of recent talk about certain folk being unhappy with ADA A II. ammonia, cloudiness etc....BUT..... ADA Amazonia is still a good substrate if cared for.

There are one things that sway my decision towards Oliver Knott Nature Soil...actually 2 things.

oli knott NS lack the ammonia that ADA Amazonian 1 and 2 contain. now for me that's not a problem to manage...W/C etc. but still now life is much easier with NS

Secondly, the issue with water clarity from the off. now again not necessarily a problem ADA AS if your like me and like to  scape without having to go back into the tank several time's to change stuff. but for the newcomer this may and WILL be an issue with ADA AS, so for that reason NS is another brilliant choice....you can play until your hearts content, and there's no clouding (i've just tried it   ) this pic hopefully shows the clarity. I am fully aware other factors come into play with water clarity so it's not all down to the NS  





one other thing....i've used the ADA system which contains the powders, power sand and even iron root tabs! with my latest scape which contains JUST NS my growth is just as good, so then there's the price issue with a full ADA system compared to a NS system.

 Now I'm no mathematician nor do I have scientific experience, or even have long term experience with NS, but I can say my new tanks is looking absolutely stunning (plant health/water clarity etc etc.....) and I feel I'm over the "breaking in" period of any new set up so the long term future looks bright.

 I know George had an uber clean tank with is Full ADA System, powders ferts etc tank (iwagumi) i can now say hand on heart, I've got one too! it's spotless...and cheaper  8) 

as for grain size, it's slightly larger than AS but the plants don't care much for size. My HC is trying to grow under it   ....OK, OK again other factors help with the low HC growth   





If I were given the choice between the 2?....I'd choose nature soil. BUT and a big but. I wouldn't think twice about using ADA AS if the other were not available. there both brilliant, you just have a bit more work in early stages with ADA AS

hope this helps one or two folk  8) 

MY flack jackets on


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## aaronnorth (15 Jun 2009)

> one other thing....i've used the ADA system which contains the powders, power sand and even iron root tabs! with my latest scape which contains JUST NS my growth is just as good, so then there's the price issue with a full ADA system compared to a NS system.



do you think the full system is better than just AS on its own? because if it isnt then the price difference would be near enough the same.
thanks


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## Mark Evans (15 Jun 2009)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> do you think the full system is better than just AS on its own? because if it isnt then the price difference would be near enough the same.



good question, if they were the same...AS V NS wouldn't this doubt the effectiveness of ADA powders? penac, bacter 100 etc etc  8) 

i've used ADA iron bottom on at least 3 set ups and i would of sworn blind it was good...but i cant be sure.


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## TDI-line (15 Jun 2009)

saintly said:
			
		

> I've used both Ada and nature soil... Nature soil hands down. It's far better



I've also got both, ADA in my 720L, and NS (fine) in my 20L, the NS wins.

I'm even thinking about using the NS in my 720L, but this will cost around Â£350-Â£400.


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## JamesM (15 Jun 2009)

I've got both and am having huge problems with ADA Malaya. Its mostly turned to dust and every time an MTS surfaces it clouds the entire tank for a week! Its horrible stuff 

MTS are having no bad effects on the NS though, and shrimp love the stuff! There is no break down or dust at all, and the water clarity is perfect.


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## George Farmer (15 Jun 2009)

NS does sound promising, especially over ADA Malaya and Amazonia II that is known for its clouding.

Any products that make the hobby easier and more accessible is a good thing in my book.  

It's nice to see some healthy competition to Aqua Soil who have dominated the planted tank enthusiast substrate market for a good few years.

All I can say is that I've had the best results I've ever seen using the full ADA system, but unfortunately this is out of reach for most of us.

I look forward to trying out NS at some point myself.  Maybe I'll ask Oliver Knott himself on the 13th Sept!!


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## JamesM (15 Jun 2009)

Ask him to do something more tasteful with the packaging too, will you George!


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## AdAndrews (15 Jun 2009)

lol. thanks saintly


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## Dan Crawford (15 Jun 2009)

JamesM said:
			
		

> Ask him to do something more tasteful with the packaging too, will you George!


    

Thanks for clearing that up for us/me Mark, i'm sure many will find that very very useful!
I'm looking forward to trying it myself and when i do, i'll put both in equal conditions and measure the difference in growth and clarity etc as accurately as possible.

Thanks again Mark, and James.


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## Tony Swinney (15 Jun 2009)

Thanks for taking the time to write that up Mark - most useful     I've got AS Malaya in the new tank (1st time I've used it) and so far its OK, but it did cloud up last week when I had to rescape it, and that was after 1 week in the tank.  I've a bag of NS waiting to be used, so I might stick that in the nano when that gets redone    

Tony


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