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The kitchen table is now free:)

The test will illustrate the leaching effects over the short term(weeks). It does not show nutrients etc or bioavailability/growth rate differences for plants. There is a rather easy way to do that however. Use the same amount of water and soil types in flask and place a soft but relatively...

Special has some clarifyer, some bacteria and the other "little" snake oils like "touramline" and "Penac". I think promoting those last 2 products does more harm than good to ADA's brand and reputation. They may as well sell diet pills and sexual enhancements. Powersand, clarifyers, liquid...

Could be, but I think they heated, thus oxidized it a bit more to seal it up better to prevent the AS from turning to mush and other issues they have had in the past. I doubt it has much to do with promoting/sellign the PS, there's a limited amount of short term ferts that can be injected into...

I tried something new with my 70 gal. I needed to make a rather large hill in the middle, rather than using 2 extra bags of ADA aqua soil, I used a mesh bag of 2 cm lava rock. This mesh bag allows me to remove the lava in the future and reuse the aqua soil unlike a layering without any mesh...

I do a similar thing with Penny wort on my own non CO2, Duckweed makes a good model as well, a number of commercial growers use their duckweed as a Nitrogen indicator.

I simply ask questions: how might a hobbyists test to see if it is effective or the maker's claims are supportable? I've always stated you should prove it to yourself and be skeptical, then you'll know and be able to solve your own questions and know what the test results were, you learn by...

The only thing that declines in AS over time I could find, was NH4. I have no issues growing carpeting plants like hair grass and a dozens of other species. See the 120 gal dutch tank and my 180 Gal is 6 year old AS now, you can see the growth of the Starougyne over 9-10 days from vicious mow...

So you are trying to tell me that some baloney made up by ADA and Dupla about flow through the sediment...........marketing steer manure...........is on the same level as Einstein and theoretical physic? Arm chair philosophers are common on the web, full of speculation and not much substance...

Not really, because the argument is that these additives and PS enhance O2 diffusion etc, so if you trim roots and grow plants quick, then you'd see reduced growth real quick. Once the roots are in place, then the roots pump far more O2 into the sediment than a heavily trimmed aquarium with...

Well, what is Science and where did it come from? Philosophers actually. But there's a big difference between those folks.....and the "arm chair" variety :lol:

Well many ADA fan boys love any and everything ADA, which is fine..........but that's not justification. I asked Amano point blank once what is in power sand, his response? "Power", he was being funny, and that is how he is, but I was not amused:) I suppose I should have been, would make me a...

I used powersand on 3 tanks origianlly, never could find any differences between those and aqua soil alone. So I suggested that it is a non significant/unimportant part of the ADA sediment system, along with Peanc (good god), tourmaline (crazy Bio electric gibberish) and most bacterial...

I liked it a lot, it's also excellent in color and with shrimp etc. They added activated carbon to the clay basically.

I liked it a lot, it's also excellent in color and with shrimp etc. They added activated carbon to the clay basically.

Good to know they are doing the right way.....big issue here in CA. Air quality gets bad due to smog and the mountains catching it along with a high pressure system which is common in the summer + nature fire ecology.

There is not much money in sediments, ADA really does not profit much from them at the end of the day, hence miracle cures in little bottles. Best $ is from growing the plants and selling those and then maintenance contracts. Driftwood is okay, but you need to the fortitude and the location to...

3 good rinses in a bucket and then add, you will not get all the fines out, but..........it'll settle just fine after the 3 wash routine.

I think this and other similar products are less useful unless you must have a single sediment type, otherwise a soil base with sand over top as a cap is likely going to provide better growth and results. When you really start challenging things with very steep slopes and scaping, then many go...

Cooked clay is VERY different from wet raw clay. Flourite is also cooked clay, so is SMS, a common and widely used product for baseball fields in the USA. I do not think they have particularly good CEC, I've measured CEC a few times, we mostly send samples out to the USDA Lab. Jamie did a...

It makes less mess and is consistent, you also do not require a sand cap, you have a nice single type homogeneous sediment.

Which author? the Worm or the MTS? In Both cases......the tanks will do better if you dose the water column and in BOTH cases they still do add ferts, Traces and K+ etc..........fish food etc.......You are not getting away without dosing really............and by adding ferts like NO3/PO4, the...

No, it's darker and the water stays clearer, but it has the same nutrients etc, but does not crumble like the old type II. Folks are just now trying it.

I'm doing a 225 Gal for a client with the new stuff, and also a 350 Gal with the old stuff this summer later. Be interesting to compare.

Plenty of folks have used the method, but you really do not need to do the mineralization step. Just like with ADA, the 1st month you do frequent large water changes(2-3 x a week), and it'll mineralize all on it's own, and then the bacterial layers will be established well. Worm castings is a...

All you need is really to increase N for the tank if you rely solely on ADA As for the nutrients. Regards, Tom Barr

Most of the nutrient s other than N are still there........... N is removed selectively, so the NH4 that was there the 1st year is gone.........so you need to add more N from fish or KNO3 etc.........

Pot experiments work pretty good also BTW: All non CO2, sunlight with shade cloth, continuous flow through water supply so no water column ferts influence the growth. The tap used is dechlorinated prior and has some NO3 and a few other ferts, but not a lot. You place different species in...

The Rice paddy soils and the delta soils in CA, USA and ADA AS 1 are very similar. ADA As has NH4 added, but otherwise, they are very similar in all ways.

I'd use maybe 1/2 this amount of light or have it 20-30cm above the tank. 4x54W is a lot of light. I use that on a 120 cm x 60x 60 and then it's 20-30cm above the tank. A 70-80 Gal should do fine with a good T5 2x54 set up. Use the out side two bulbs for lighting, if you are a glutton for...

Folks tend to go overboard, Naman certainly does. Wormcastings is a fairly old method coming from some folks who did nice scapes in Brazil around 1998-2000. It is not that different than soil via Walstad who also was mentored with soil from those before her and myself. I had a more interest...

Worm castings Regards, Tom Barr

If you want some simpler methods to test various soils, a group of small pots are the best. Pots 1-4, soil #1.......all have a few of the same species, pick a wimpy plant......... Pots 5-10 have soil #2 Pots 11-15 have soil # and so on........ You can evaluate some of the soil fair well with...

Hi Darrel, Is this to make a flourite like product or? I'm not clear on the goal for roasting it. Cat litter was promoted on line in the USA mostly by Dan Quackenbush, now deceased, and nice old hillbilly that had good common sense. You might check the Aquatic plant digest for good tidbits. I...

Most clay soils are fairly similar to ADA. The Delta clay in CA is almost exactly the same, but ADA's is enriched with NH4 whereas many clays tend to be lower in N. Cooking it at higher temp is not required, fine if you want semi inert stuff I suppose, but semi soft clay is ideal, ADA's product...

3-4mm is good, I use dolomite. Regards, Tom Barr

This can be done, ADA power sand has some mixed in if you look. See the Ferticicles method for adding Osmocoat to existing sediments. I've got about 4 years on my ADA sediments. 3 moves etc. No issues. Mucky when up rooting, but some vacuuming helps clean it up or a large water change after...

I've raise and bred CRS as have many using ADA AS which is loaded with NH4. I've also dosed typical EI and went from 12 to 50 shrimp a in a few months with other fish present. So seems like there's little risk once the plants/bacteria are established, the rest is manure rubbish adn fear...

No, adding plenty of plants and allowing a 2-3 weeks or time to pass prior to adding the shrimp, should be fine. Plant and bacteria will keep the NH4 down. Regards, Tom Barr

I agree with ya. 100%. We used it many years ago, maybe in the 1980's or so here in the USA, but then a new crop of folks come along.......they do not look at what is been done and think it's all new. In the AGA alone, there where dozens of folks that used it. Some moved more to water column...

Pack some plants in there, add zeolite, and then do a 90% water changes etc. No fish, so you can go whole hog with water changes. I question the test kit also :idea: Plants should suck up the NH4, bacteria should finish off the rest. Zeolite and water changes should knock it down as well...

Osmocoat seems to the best long term option, no cloud, no tacky pulling up pumice gravel later on, no mixing etc, if you want a base layer, and want nutrients, this is the way to go. ADA aqua soil is a good all in one product, there's little need to add powersand. This works on it's own,I...

Worm castings witha layer of sand on top, or mineralized soil, some nice wetland clay soils might be available where you live. Search Worm castings, these work very well with plain sand. Regards, Tom Barr

Sell some plants, that'd pay for it without any real money, use plant money instead! I donate to most of the forums to help them operate as a good will gesture using this same thing, RAOK and the $ goes to the web site owner to help pay for the server cost. Same type of thing, but you(not the...

I will have it up and posted sometime in the next few hours on the BarrReport newsletter. Hades froze solid. I think you folks particularly will find some of the ideas and notions applicable for your methods and DIY approaches. If you use the ADA AS and or the mineralized (or perhaps not...

Unlike harder cooked clays, like flourite or Akadama, softer clays will retain and hold far more nutrients. They are also easier to enrich with macro nutrients. Still, a DIY Mineralized soil has been done long before APC was even a forum. Several Brasilian showed ti worked well in higher light...

While I personally have not done this, some have suggested partial cooking of the cat litter to make it less messy. I think you'll see a significant difference between harder sediment types. It can be enriched also, with KNO3 pre soaking, KH2PO4, etc, Osmocoat added on the bottom for longer...

Cat litter works very well, it was suggested here in the USA many years ago, but many just laughed at many folks suggesting it. Akadama and Turface etc Flourite, are all clay fired products, cat litter is softer, like ADA' aqua soil(Think cat litter with macro nutrients/peat), plants seem to...

Not that ceg4048 does not agree already here:) I think using a macro rich sediment is a wise idea. ADA aqua soil is loaded and has the lion's share. Adding water column fertilizers helps to reduce transport cost by the plant, sediment the tips of the leaves, since there's no real transpiration...

I did think of that but id read that the bigger particles promote better circulation so wasnt sure if this would mean the nutrients would be absordbed by the AS. I was using the aquacare as I had some left that I bought when I started back in the hobby. I currently have my Rio 125 planted up...

FYI, the dupla cables ran about 400-800$ USA. I DIY my own and so did a few folks after wasting our money. Sandpoint use to make them also, I used theirs for about 10 years(except in the summer). I have an old article that describes how to DIY one........if anyone is interested, cost about...

Flourite "Gravel" is about 2-5mm, the "sand" is about 1mm or so, maybe less. Regards, Tom Barr

Black flourite sand is really nice(very fine). Regards, Tom Barr

Sure, you can boil it, but that will not make particularly tender to eat :P Still might bit crunchy. You can pull the top layer over and bury the algae with the bottom layer, then as mentioned, treat the issue, I assume it's either cladophora or BBA, both of which like mean CO2 is an issue...

BTW, the rates of diffusion are faster with warmer temps, and temp is the main issue for the rate for Osmocoat or similar products, long term release ferts etc. Since our aquariums are temp stable, the osmocoat diffusion rates should be stable. If you add a layer of osmocoat to the sediment...

Yes, the idea came from Dan Q, long ago. Did it, used it, worked great. As it should have, the issue is not the ratio, the issue is having non limiting levels of nutrients. It's not an issue until you try limiting levels in both the water column and the sediment :idea: Otherwise, it does not...

Quite a few folks used this in Portugal when I was there last month. But more have been using ADA As alone. Still, this and the SMS are cheap alternatives. If you want to add some nutrients, you might consider Osmocoat or something similar, maybe 5 grams per 30cm on the bottom layer, or 1 cm of...

I hated the powder, I call it "dust". Hard not to make mess and blow it around. Fine if you can let the plants fill in and lock the stuff in place. But even the finest rooted plants do great with the normal size. I do not buy into capping methods to lock anything below. That's heater cable...

These are actually very old methods:) Seriously, many here on this side of the pond did this stuff pre Dupla, and many post are on the web in the APD. You can look on http://www.theKrib.com and various post on the Aquatic Plant digest(APD). It's old, and the old list style, but folks used a...

You might try zeolite sand, it will bind NH4 well and has a nice CEC. You can also simply use a general terrestrial fertilizer to soak the sediment prior to use. Realize that it will leach out also, so go for low NH4, high NO3 ratios. You can use long term ferts like Osmocoat, ADA uses a...

While that test was vs mud from the delta, it is still much better than some other sediments and is what I'd recommend. It's much better than plain sand or flourite for example. It also provides a good back up for water column dosing, folks sometimes forget to do dosing. Some plants seem to do...

I'd suggest the ADA aqua soil alone and some water column dosing, say Tropica line or making the macro ferts with the DIY ferts from AE. Hard to go wrong this way and then you have both methods to add ferts, the sediment and the water column, this gives you the easiest method to grow plants...