# manado



## Nick16 (10 Jun 2010)

whos used it? 

thoughts opinions? 

i swear by JBL aquabasis as it is cheap and really nutritious. but i would love to hear thoughts on manado. 

good growth? 
particle sizes consistent? 
Cloud the water?
Ammonia spikes? 

a good review would be super.


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## Anonymous (10 Jun 2010)

> good growth?


Yes, very good, if you consider the plants, it's not for baking.


> particle sizes consistent?


Won't break, kinda vary in size, don't know the taste thou, fish might but they don't wanna tell me .. 


> Cloud the water?


If not rinsed before use, and it needs to be well rinsed, also rises GH a bit, some water changes the following weeks and you are OK, prepare to waste some water and energy so eat and drink before opening the bag.


> Ammonia spikes?


Nay

P.S. I really need some sleep.


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## bigmatt (10 Jun 2010)

Try a search on here - sure there have been a couple of threads discussing it.  Think the general feeling is that it couldn't be trusted with shrimp
M


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## Nick16 (10 Jun 2010)

i have no shrimp in my tanks due to hungry rainbowfish but im still keen on using it in the near future. 

I loved the old Aquabasis, shame it clouded nice and pink!


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## nayr88 (11 Jun 2010)

i dont think its all that if just used on its own. Unless you dose ferts heavily, it has the ability of taking 'goodness' out of the water column so roots can absorb it, probably good to have a aquabasis layer underneath though.

i haaaaated the colour and it was so annoying to plant into, its so so light.

edit; i have a picture on my journal of a tank i done with this stuff, i used a thin layer of garden soil under it.(diana walstad style)


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## mr. luke (14 Jun 2010)

Its too light for a high flow tank.
I tried as loww as 5x turnover and it left craters.
Its fine so far with my macro shrimps though.


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## Nick16 (14 Jun 2010)

ahh, right, thats puts me back to basics then. good old aquabasis it is... 

would far rather use that than the mud tropica produce.... 
might cap it with some zambezi gravel so its more nautral.


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## nayr88 (14 Jun 2010)

Yeah I had to mess around for ages with my filter to stop it from slightly brushing the surface of the substrate otherwise I'd have a huge mount of it somewhere.

I have some aquabasis that a friend me proberly going to cap it with graded gravels and sand, no way am I going back to manado!! Haha

What's the zambezi gravel all about? Is it a nutrient based or just a nice gravel?


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## Nick16 (14 Jun 2010)

its not nutrient based, just a pea gravel. looks really good. 

check the journal section for one called 'crypt causeway'. i remember zambezi gravel was used in there...


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