# akadama questions



## tovtm (2 Aug 2011)

this is another cheap alternative in the plante tank I'm trying to get my head around so I can use it. a few questions I have which may be already answered but looking through so many pages I didnt see then.

in first post it says "The other choice is to pre-treat the Akadama with a strong GH solution to speed up this process out of the tank. After a week soaking, rinse well and use in the tank. Any KH drop should now be minimised." is this gh solution available from a LFS if so is that what it's called?

I would be looking at putting it into my tank as soon as possible but I have discus so obviously only put it in once it's fine to. so I'm guessing putting it straight in the tank would be out of the question without doing countless WC. 

I have sand substrate now so would it be beneficial to put this soil straight on top of that to kick start the bacterira in the soil?


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## Alastair (2 Aug 2011)

You could keep some sand in yes, but I've not had any experience with akadama as the time soaking it put me off so I went down the tesco cat litter route as I wanted a quick swap from sand.


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## tovtm (2 Aug 2011)

also read about that but growth rate isn't as good or would I be wrong lol aso any pictures you could upload of it in the tank?


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## plantbrain (2 Aug 2011)

I think this and other similar products are less useful unless you must have a single sediment type, otherwise a soil base with sand over top as a cap is likely going to provide better growth and results. When you really start challenging things with very steep slopes and scaping, then many go to ADA AS etc...........

And a single type of sediment.

This stuff could not hold a slope if you wanted.


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## Alastair (2 Aug 2011)

Growth rate seems fine for me, I'm dosing ei so don't see why results would be less with cat litter than it would akadama. I can understand with the likes of Ada soil that people have better results. But surely if dosing ei then the sediment type isn't that important???? 
I'll upload a pic if I can in a minute to show what it looks like


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## madlan (2 Aug 2011)

I'm using akadama + EI (fairly new setup so still needs to grow out):


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## Alastair (2 Aug 2011)

heres mine with cat litter....its lighter than akadama though i think


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## greenink (2 Aug 2011)

plantbrain said:
			
		

> This stuff could not hold a slope if you wanted.



Has anyone tried doing a slope with akadama? Would it not work, even with plastic strips used to hold the slope in place?


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## jamie_99 (6 Aug 2011)

I'm using akadama, substrate height at the rear is  about 6 inches sloping down to 2 inches at the front, seems to be holding up ok, although there are a few large rocks on the slope. This stuff is very light and easy to move, even just cleaning the glass with an algae magnet can disrupt it. Now that the plants are taking hold, its not too bad.


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## greenink (7 Aug 2011)

jamie_99 said:
			
		

> I'm using akadama, substrate height at the rear is  about 6 inches sloping down to 2 inches at the front, seems to be holding up ok, although there are a few large rocks on the slope. This stuff is very light and easy to move, even just cleaning the glass with an algae magnet can disrupt it. Now that the plants are taking hold, its not too bad.



Do you have any pictures? I find an algae magnet will move aqua soil too...


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## jamie_99 (7 Aug 2011)

Will try to get you a photo, now where did i put the camera?...


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