# Dupla Ground



## bigmatt (20 Apr 2011)

I'm thinking about some of this stuff (mainly as it's cheap and i can pick it up locally) - does anyone have any experience with it (Luis @ghostsword - i'm looking at you man!  ).  Mainly i'm interested in colour and texture as i'm going for a "forest" look in my nano http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15517 and i've cunningly taken a leaf out of the viv makers book and used expanding foam for the base and to support the wood.  As i then don't have much depth to play with for the substrate i'd like to use soemthing that will look natural if it shows through the moss floor, but doesn't need capping.
Thanks as always folks,
Matt


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## ghostsword (20 Apr 2011)

Going to be blunt, and please moderators do not give me a hard time. 

Keep away from it unless you are intended to use it on a emersed setup.

I do have about 10 kg of it at home, use it on my emersed tanks, and the reasons are below:
- too big granules, put it on a nano and it looks like you got boulders
- too light, some bits float, it is very hard to plant on it
- too red, and it does not get darker, it stays red, like red bricks

The best substrate I have used is the Dennerle susbtrate for nanos, it does not crumble, easy to plant on, and the pieces are really small, it looks great on the nanos and picos. 

If you want I can send you a small bag, 300grams, for you to try on and see if it is for you.


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## bigmatt (20 Apr 2011)

You're a star Luis - Cheers for the honest and comprehensive review.  Which Dennerle substrate do you mean?
Cheers
Matt


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## ghostsword (20 Apr 2011)

I got this one.

http://www.reptilica.co.uk/Dennerle-Nan ... rown.phtml


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## bigmatt (20 Apr 2011)

Is this inert or nutrient enhanced?
M


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## LondonDragon (20 Apr 2011)

ghostsword said:
			
		

> Going to be blunt, and please moderators do not give me a hard time.


Constructive feedback is always welcomed, as long you back your comments/critiques with your experiences and facts then its not a problem, if you just say "stay away from it, its rubbish" then its not acceptable. If you justify your comments then people can at least get some facts and make up their own mind about it.

For example the Oliver Knott soil for me was also very light, the fine version was great, great texture and colour, but you know I like a lot of flow in tanks so it went all over the place until I covered the front of the tank with a carpet, but for a low flow tank or at the back as just a fertile substrate it is great, same can be said about sand (in terms of being light) too as I experienced recently.


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## ghostsword (20 Apr 2011)

bigmatt said:
			
		

> Is this inert or nutrient enhanced?
> M



I believe that it is inert. I like inert substrate, as I dose EI, do not need more stuff on the substrate.


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## Garuf (20 Apr 2011)

Go for the tropica substrate, there's very good reasons Dupla isn't overly well respected any more.


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## ghostsword (21 Apr 2011)

Garuf said:
			
		

> Go for the tropica substrate, there's very good reasons Dupla isn't overly well respected any more.


Tried the tropica substrate, very good if you are not going to move plants again. There isn't a messier substrate than that, at least that I the messier I've used. Akadama is the second best, especially the fine version.


.


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## nayr88 (21 Apr 2011)

Use sane and dose EI, there's some real nice sands and graded gravels, it looks ze nuts!

I've had good experience with colombo flora base, and ada amazonia....unless I was in a really inspired mood and on a tgm spree I think ill stick to colombo flore base and a sand forground.


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