# Separating Ada Amazonia Soil from Sand



## sarat (17 Sep 2021)

Hi, I'm re-scaping my tank. I've only used Ada Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia in the tank so far but in the new scape I want to create a beach area with sand. I'm worried about the sand and soil merging as I know at the moment it doesn't take much to disturb the soil. Looking at the forums it is suggested to use rocks between the sand and soil. Not sure how effective this is. I was wondering about using a piece of plastic to divide between the soil and sand- it would need to be about 3" deep and ideally bendable. Has anyone else had any experience of doing this? 
I would be grateful for any thoughts. Thanks


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## John q (17 Sep 2021)

@Wookii  did something like this. Here's his journal.








						Sandy Nook . . .
					

So it's time for a rescape after the last scape, Kinabalu grew out to the point of being beyond recognition with the original scape.  My own personal interest in scapes has leaned heavily towards Biotope/Habitat style scapes over the last 6 months, however I still have one foot firmly on 'Nature...



					www.ukaps.org


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## plantnoobdude (17 Sep 2021)

john beat me to posting it haha.
some other ways that may work
filter floss plus rocks,
cigarrete filters and superglue with rocks
silicone and rocks

also, i believe ada amazonia is magnetic. a strong magnet should pick any stray particles in the sand!


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## Tom Ryan (@aquascaperay) (19 Sep 2021)

Hi, if you're looking for a more 'natural' way of seperating the sand from soil you can use the hardscape/plants to do this if you place them roughly on the line of the sand/soil crossover point. If you couple this with having the sand at a slightly higher level than the soil and make sure the crossover point is slanted as shown in the picture below to stop the soil from moving forward then that would work. Every now and again you'll obviously have to top off with some fresh sand but this is how it's done in the ADA gallery! Hope that helps.


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## sarat (20 Nov 2021)

Thank you all for your suggestions- am going to experiment with some perspex- photos to follow


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## JBFUK (26 Jan 2022)

How did this go?  I did a similar thing and it's impossible to avoid having bits of the substrate scattered around on top of the sand.  I ended up trying to cover all of the substrate with a layer of sand to stop it being disturbed and moving around.  That helps but there's always some dotted around spoiling the look of my beach, particularly if you ever need to pull up or replant something.  Thinking of planting some carpet plants on my beach so I don't have to look at pebbles of substrate spoiling it.  Next time I'll go with a dark coloured sand/gravel.


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## swyftfeet (28 Jan 2022)

I tried to do this in my tank and even though I slow filled it with an air hose, basically a drip fill.  Some of the sand created air balloons and decided to float all over hells creation.   White traveling to the dark and dark moving onto the white.    really peeved me.


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## arcturus (28 Jan 2022)

JBFUK said:


> I did a similar thing and it's impossible to avoid having bits of the substrate scattered around on top of the sand. I ended up trying to cover all of the substrate with a layer of sand to stop it being disturbed and moving around.


<granular convection>




You can have substrate-free sand for a few hours after maintenance. After that, shrimp, snails, bottom dwelling fish, and physics will put pieces of substrate back into place 

You can try using a thick layer sand to cap the substrate, but this is usually not a good idea. You can also try keeping the substrate in place inside mesh bags or below a fine plastic net. But combining sand with substrate often implies extra maintenance.


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## JBFUK (28 Jan 2022)

arcturus said:


> <granular convection>
> View attachment 180903
> 
> You can have substrate-free sand for a few hours after maintenance. After that, shrimp, snails, bottom dwelling fish, and physics will put pieces of substrate back into place
> ...



Yes I absolutely agree, and, if you have exposed substrate in one part of the tank and sand in another, you will end up with substrate moving around and spoiling the look of the sand.  I'm just about to plant a field of Eleocharis on my sand beach so I don't have to worry/think about it again.


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