# westland aquatic compost



## darren636

want to make a start on my new emergent set-up, wanting to use a soil base, does anyone know if this westland will provide problems with ammonia at start up? i doubt it as i use it in ponds etc. just checking. thanks guys.


----------



## BigTom

Used this recently when changing substrate... pretty much just planted then headed off for 5 weeks so wasn't around to monitor ammonia. All livestock seems fine so i doubt it leached too much ammonia (although I do have a huge amount of plants that would have soaked it up).

Just an FYI though, it does contain lime so will raise hardness and probably pH.


----------



## darren636

states the ph will be in the 6.5 region, which is ok, i have some serious peat water waiting ( ph 3) so if it does mess around with the ph i will be able to keep it where i want, thanks b.t.


----------



## Kristoph91

Even if it did leach ammonia, just stack the tank with fast growing floaters maybe?
If your heart is set on that compost, I mean.
Kris


----------



## darren636

got lots of frogbit and riccia i can bung in, as well as my mature echinodorus and crypts .


----------



## darren636

so - the pond soil is in the tank, filled with water and a few plants. I like the look of just bare soil but it does stir up very easily. Apart from the clouding and aesthetic issue is there a need to cap the soil?


----------



## Kristoph91

I'd say if you didn't cap it with at least an inch of sand or gravel, there will be lots of mess. Lots.
Maybe not capping it can cause it to leach more ammonia ? I don't know.


----------



## Tim Harrison

Hi I have used it on its own and mixed with 50% peat moss both have proven extremely good planting media. The plants below are growing in 50/50 mix, with about the equivalent of 1/10th EI ferts dosing. 






It took about a week for this tank to cycle (heavily planted), however, I also added a minuscule amount of peat from my old filter to the soil substrate, no more than a few teaspoons full, which I think was perhaps enough to inoculate it and speed up the cycling and mineralisation processes.

I didn't do any water changes for the first week, and neither did I use established filter media. During that time ammonia, nitrites and nitrates peaked at a reasonably high level then quickly returned to a trace and remained stable.

As for using it uncapped, I should imagine it would settle eventually but it would be very easily disturbed, so depending on your urge to move stuff around turbidity could become a longterm issue.

I often use a soil retainer/gravel tidy (below) and then cap with a few cms of sand but you could equally cap with a Gucci substrate of your choice, such as columbo flora base which would look natural and have the obvious added benefits.





The links below have more info.


----------



## darren636

i really do like the look of the plain soil. When it settles it does look like a slice out of a lake. Will be moving house again in the summer so this is temporary. Still murky at the moment but.... Looks so natural   guess i would get the same effect with a fine grade sand as a cap.


----------



## darren636

think i will have to cap it.... Still has not settled out. Will grab some landscape fabric and then use sand as a top layer.


----------



## Tim Harrison

Try this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... dition=new


----------



## darren636

nice one troi. Will test for ammonia later too. Should not be any but.....


----------



## Alastair

I also found that stuff troy linked to but on eBay under gravel tidy n really cheap. How much of it do you need as I have about 2 metres spare 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## darren636

i  need about 125 cms in length and about 30 cms wide


----------



## Alastair

I've got that spare mate 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## darren636

thanks for the offer alastair- got to visit homebase to buy sand so i will grab some fabric at the same time. You are a very nice man


----------



## Alastair

No problem mate. Hope you find some. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## darren636

tested the soil. Ammonia between 4 and 8 ppm. Says on the packet- ' will not affect water quality ' yeah right....


----------



## Alastair

I've heard with the soil its best to have the bag open for a week Befire putting it in the tank and turning occasionally to release ammonia. Have you checked to see how much of an impact it's had on your gh? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## darren636

my gh is off the scale anyway !  was hoping to get my microdevario in the tank, with some cpd's... it will have to wait, other than that  i like the soil, but they tell fibs on the packaging.


----------



## timbob1387

Glad I found this thread as got a bag of this today and hope to be getting tank stripped and this put in over the next weekend or so


----------

