# How long do you keep usng your ADA Aquasoil...



## Vito

Hey guys,

Just general conversation,

I was wondering to myself today knowing that ADA AS has a sort of useage time limit on it before the nutrients are exhaused and I just think we pay a considerable ammount for the stuff and I am not about to throw it away. I have used it twice and I am going to use it for a third time but im thinking of suplimenting it with a load of root tabs. so what does everone else do as I am curious.

Vito


----------



## howanic

I guess it depends on lots of things. If you have a low tech low light setup then I guess there would not be a huge demand on nutrients. Also if you don't have many rooted plants and if you regularly dose the water column then it would last longer. I have reused mine. Nutrient wise it seems fine, but it does break down into an unattractive mush. I did rinse some once,    which I know would have removed alot of the nutrients but it did make it less muddy.


----------



## andyh

Great question! As I am about to reuse mine mixed with a new bag, and some tropica tabs.

Will it be as good?


----------



## ceg4048

Hi,
   Barr's data demonstrates that Nitrogen is depleted from A.S. in a very short time. This N depletion is characterized by leeching of the NH4 into the water column, as witnessed by many users. On the other hand, P, Fe  and K were shown to actually increase over time when the water column was dose via EI, probably as a result fish food and waste, and possibly some CEC. The situation with P and K is less clear if the water column was lean dosed during the sediments original use.

The high initial NH4 values with new A.S. helps plants get started, however, if using "Pre-Owned" A.S. it is suggested that you dose NO3 heavily to account for the loss of N in this sediment. This might be one of the few circumstances where Powersand might actually be useful. PS is high in NH4-N and is extremely high in NO3-N  but both are depleted rapidly. It's still cheaper to simply dose NO3 to the water column though. Powersands CEC is over 7 times lower than plain old sand.  Pumice is not a good long term substrate and it basically takes up space which could be better used by having more A.S.

The data shows why it is unnecessary to dose NO3 in the initial stages of tank setup when using the ADA system. You may need to dose K though, perhaps because some studies have shown that in some plants K is more easily absorbed by the leaves versus the roots. Hence the popularity of Brighty K. Later, as N becomes depleted, ADA has you start squirting their NPK products into the tank, which are basically the same as TPN+ but in a more stylish perfume bottle.   

Cheers,


----------



## sanj

I am going to be reusing some 2 year old Malaya which i posted about in another thread on here. It keeps its consistancy pretty well even though I have been told that it is least good at doing this of all the four types of AS. Being a clay based soil I would have thought through EI the nutrient content would be maintained or build up, but as Clive has mentioned perhaps it varies for different nutirents.

I was considering PS again, but its expensive and ugly, if you keep your system for a long time some of it works its way up to the surface. Generally finer substrates end up on the bottom layer and larger at the top.

Another way to bolster the N and P is to use the Tropica capsules and place them on the bottom of the tank.


----------



## LondonDragon

Never used Malaya but I have used Amazonia II and Naturesoil and just after one year both started turning to mud, this on my 54l shimp tank that has very little substrate disturbance since I have no rooted plants into the soil. I will not use any more fertile substrate in my shrimp tanks in future.


----------



## Stu Worrall

the amazonia in my 90cm at the moment is from my juwel 125 that I ran for a year. It all came out the same as it had gone in as granuals so its lasted pretty well.


----------



## sanj

Probably more importantly i had no black anaerobic areas in my tank.


----------



## viktorlantos

Used my old Amazonia at the current rescape: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=8032
The only thing i did is sucked the powder (mud) from the top of the old substrate and added in a bag of new soil. performed well with the plants. But also added in bottom fertilizers.

This way i keep using the same soil with 1 bag addition 2 years ago without problem.


----------



## chris1004

Hi,

Why not just add some Osmocote or Miracle Grow slow release granules as recommended in the Akadama substrate setup?

Surely this will replenish the substrate nutrient wise.

Regards, Chris.


----------



## Dave Spencer

I have had the same Amazonia on the go for over two years. An adequately dosed water column should increase the longevity of it.

Dave.


----------



## plantbrain

chris1004 said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> Why not just add some Osmocote or Miracle Grow slow release granules as recommended in the Akadama substrate setup?
> 
> Surely this will replenish the substrate nutrient wise.
> 
> Regards, Chris.



This can be done, ADA power sand has some mixed in if you look.

See the Ferticicles method for adding Osmocoat to existing sediments.

I've got about 4 years on my ADA sediments.
3 moves etc.

No issues.

Mucky when up rooting, but some vacuuming helps clean it up or a large water change after redoing things.
Should last a decade or so I reckon.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------

