# Which soil do you recommend..Newbie Q



## Den Milligan (1 Apr 2018)

Hi
I'm beginning to set up my tank. I'm looking for black substrate. 
I want to have a planted tank. I won't be using co2. 
Can you recommend which soil would be best for me to get. 

Thanks


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## Angus (1 Apr 2018)

Tropica or ADA amazonia, but all a matter of opinion really, Welcome to the world of planted tanks, you will end up doing a lot of reading.


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## Den Milligan (1 Apr 2018)

Thanks....yeh I'm trawling through the forum right now...lol


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## Angus (1 Apr 2018)

i like the all in one aquasoils myself, but you could also use a base layer and topper, or even a dirted tank ala Diana Walstad.


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## Den Milligan (1 Apr 2018)

All in one sounds good. I'll look at these...


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## Tim Harrison (1 Apr 2018)

If you want an all in one substrate ADA AS, or Tropica Aquarium Soil are well worth a look. Tropica Soil doesn't give off much of an ammonia spike whilst it's cycling, whereas ADA AS does.
If you want to use a soil substrate capped with sand, Unipac Limpopo black sand works well http://www.unipacpet.co.uk/aquatic/aquarium-sand/
Check the tutorial section out for more info on soil substrate tanks https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/


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## Den Milligan (1 Apr 2018)

Thanks Tim.


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## Smells Fishy (1 Apr 2018)

Can't go wrong with Tropica plant growth substrate, that's what I used first time round and found planting easy. A good tip when planting is to wet your substrate slightly before hand.


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## CryptKeeper (2 Apr 2018)

I'm a plated tank noob, too, and I went with Black Earth by Cal Aqua for my recently set up tank. I chose it mostly based on reviews, and can confirm that it is as clean and nicely processed as everybody states. I also put the Green Base XR underneath. Whether this will do anything to compensate for my many beginners' mistakes remains to be seen


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## Den Milligan (2 Apr 2018)

I ended up buying Nature Soil by Oliver Knott as it was black. 
Hopefully it's as good as olly says.


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## lucaz koh (21 Apr 2018)

I stand by Ada Amazonia all the way. Never had an issue with it, kept a tank running with the first batch of soil for years and never crumbled that much. Supplemented by substrate revistalisers of course though


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