# AQUA SOIL  ??



## stressed dave (26 Jul 2009)

hello, has anyone heard of or using aqua soil?, im wanting to set up my tank with a bottom layer of aquarium soil under my sand to get a good lush planted freash water aquarium, can anybody advise me please?
thanks for your time 
regards dave


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## aaronnorth (26 Jul 2009)

Loads of people use aquasoil  

Dont go for version II as it clouds the aquarium badly.
Amazonia has an initial ammonia spike so daily water changes are needed to prevent algae & stop it killing your fish
Malaya or Africana doesnt have an ammonia spike, but IME Malaya is very dusty and my crypts were coated in a layer of dust for the first few weeks.


But Aquasoil, and Oliver Knott Nature soil are both regarded as the "best" on the market as all in one substrates. However, people who have use Natures soil have said they prefer it over AS.


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## George Farmer (26 Jul 2009)

Do you mean ADA Aqua Soil, or a generic aquatic compost?

Low tech/El Natural tanks usually have a layer of soil on the bottom, topped with gravel.

ADA Aqua Soil is generally used in 'higher-tech' set-ups associated with faster growth though more lighting, CO2 and other water column nutrients.

Although ADA Aqua Soil would probably work just great in an El Natural set-up too...


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## stressed dave (10 Aug 2009)

thanks for your replies!  , ive used  carabsea eco complete now, but i cant seam to get my Hemianthus Callitrichoides  to grow, it keeps dieing


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## ceg4048 (10 Aug 2009)

This has nothing to do with the substrate and everything to do with  CO2 and water column nutrients.

Cheers,


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## Superman (10 Aug 2009)

As above, the soil is only a small part of making your plants flourish in the aquarium.
If your plants are dying then it is because there is insufficient light, co2, ferts, flow or a mixture of a few.
Yes using ADA Aquasoil provides the plants certain nutrients but that doesn't mean you need to stop dosing ferts.

Maybe you need to look into other things then wasting money on new substrate, when eco complete could be just as good.


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## stressed dave (11 Aug 2009)

its strange because all my other plants are doing fine except my Hemianthus Callitrichoides? im very confused


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## Superman (11 Aug 2009)

stressed dave said:
			
		

> its strange because all my other plants are doing fine except my Hemianthus Callitrichoides? im very confused


HC is generally considered to be a tough plant to master, your comment there suggests that it's not the substrate itself but ferts/light/flow/co2 related as ceg said above.


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## stressed dave (11 Aug 2009)

hi thanks for your reply, quick update:  ive replaced my lights with two new ones today, got a juwel day tube and a nature tube (apparentally best for my plants) , it looks loads better!  .   the nature tube really brings out the green colour of my plants, 
  earlier you mentioned flow, forgive my for asking but does this hav an effect on hc, (i currently have 7" of spray bar fitted and my co2 agitator at the end of the bar)


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## SKP1995 (11 Aug 2009)

Are you only using flourish excel as ferts?


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## Superman (12 Aug 2009)

HC is one plant that requires the best conditions to grow. To have that, you need to provide good water flow to the plants so that it gets sufficient co2 and ferts. Just because you have a spray bar doesn't mean your getting good flowto the HC. In addition, we talk about good flow as not all areas in the tank have the same co2 and fert concentration. Therefore, we aim to get the worst area in the tank to have non-limiting co2 and ferts. 

As the above poster has also asked, if your only dosing excel then that's a liquid carbon source and not plant fertilisers. I would suggest that you get something like Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus (TPN+) which is a all in one plant fertiliser.


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## stressed dave (13 Aug 2009)

yes, giving my tank a daily dose, why you ask?  its only been a 2 days but i think my plants a looking better aready with these new lights.


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