# Substrate ideas



## maps (3 Jul 2012)

Hi Folks,

1st post althought I've been lurking for a while.

I'm currently looking at revamping my tank after a year or so in the hobby. I've currently got a 125 Juwel Rio tank with 7 C.Sterbai and 7 Lemon Tetras. I've decided that I've had enough of the current look of the tank as it looks a bit amateurish.

Anyway was looking at potentially replacing my substrate with a more plant friendly substrate (I currently just have aquarium sand) and then incorporating some sort of beach area for the cories.

I quite like the look of the ADA amazonia substrate but I wondered if anybody had any experience of using this with cories?

Also I've read that it will leech ammonia into the water for a period after its been introduced. Has anybody found anyway to combat this other than the usual water changes? 

I'd thought of a couple of ideas but unsure if they would work. My 1st idea was to use the Underworld Polyfilters which can help to remove ammonia (at least they claim to) alternatively I wondered if it was possible to place the soil in a separate tank let it leech the ammonia then after a few weeks transfer it to the main tank. Again those were just theories.

Unfortunately I haven't really got anywhere suitable to put my stock long term whilst I'm rescaping the tank.

If you have any suggestions then they would be welcome.

Thanks in advance

Dan


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## Aqua sobriquet (3 Jul 2012)

Can't help except to say don't discount some of the stuff like Tesco's finest, could save you a few quid as well.


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## foxfish (3 Jul 2012)

ADA amazonia substrate is a great substrate, if you want the best then that is what I would recommend!
You do need to carry out regular & frequent water changes for the first few weeks if you have fish or shrimps.
I have just set up a 200lt tank with amazonia but, I do have a large mature trickle filter running on the tank & have not had any issues with my fish just doing my usual 50% weekly water change.


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## Alastair (3 Jul 2012)

Ada Amazonia is good stuff, I use it but I'd say to sift through the bag should you purchase some as all the bags I have had contained a fair amount of sharp glass/quartz type pieces in amongst it which is definitely not cory friendly but plant wise it's fantastic stuff. 
Regarding the ammonia, you could soak the soil in a bucket and do daily water changes for a week to help leech out the ammonia instead of trying to put it in a Seperate tank and then scraping it all out to transfer to the new tank. Much easier to just tip the water from the bucket then too and top with fresh water 


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## maps (4 Jul 2012)

Thanks for the responses folks.

A bit of food for thought there. I didn't know about the quartz type bits you can get in ADA so thanks for the warning. As for Tesco's finest what sort of colour is the cat litter and is it effective?


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## Alastair (4 Jul 2012)

I don't know if it was just a bad batch that I recieved that contained the pieces as the supplier asked for them do they could be sent off to Ada. It's great stuff thiugh. 
The tesco cat litter has a very similar colour to the jbl manado, it's tesco lightweight low dust cat litter as seen here http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ ... =265235247
Just needs a thorough rinsing to get rid of the scent
As for effectiveness, obviously the Ada stuff or any of the nature soils ie columbo florabase, ebi gold plant substrate, tmc nutra soil, Oliver knott etc are all ideal as they are full of nutrients already, the Ada I believe contains more. 
The cat litter is a clay based substrate which is inert, but if your planning on dosing the water column with ferts this stuff absorbs any excess a d feeds directly to the plant roots. 
It is light when first out in the tank but once in for a few weeks it becomes much heavier 

Hope this helps 

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## Aqua sobriquet (4 Jul 2012)

May also be worth mentioning that some of the substrates mentioned are used for their buffering abilities, but it's not permanent. Not sure how this may effect plants but folks are advised to replace substrate every 18 months or so if it's used in a shrimp tank for example. Tesco C/L does need a very good wash but is a nice colour and looks quite natural.


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## maps (7 Jul 2012)

Thanks for the suggestions and the advice. I think I may buy some cat litter and have a bit of an experiment in a spare nano before deciding. I'll give the cat litter thread a good read as well.


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## greenink (7 Jul 2012)

Molar clay with osmocote DIY tabs = Malaya at a tenth of the price. Links are in that thread!


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## Tim Harrison (7 Jul 2012)

Sorry I couldn't resist any longer...why not try potting compost? Apparently, there's a very well written and informative article about the use of soil substrates in the August edition of PFK  although I couldn't say for sure since I haven't read it yet.


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## Tim Harrison (7 Jul 2012)

Sorry I couldn't resist any longer...why not try potting compost? Apparently, there's a half decent article about the use of soil substrates in the August edition of PFK  although I couldn't say for sure since I haven't read it yet.


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