• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Akadama - A cheap substrate

James i think i screwed up i have bought Spagnum moss from the bonzai shop and not Spagnum moss peat. I was planning to use it with some Osmocote which i have on order. How thickly or thinly did you spread the osmocote ?
 
It's difficult to describe. Not so thick that it's like a mat. A good sprinkling of it is the best way I can describe it. It's not critical unless you put loads too much in.

James
 
Hello James!

I would like to thank you that you introduced me the akadama. I started to rescpae my tank because of your journal, and it was a very big help to me when I rescaped my tank. the outcome is unbelievable, my plants have never been so healthy and beautiful. here's a picture of my tank, this is my acknowledgement for you.
DSCN1619.JPG

Thanks James!
 
thats a lovely tank, if you were to put something like some blxya japonica in front of your stems but behind the HC, it would look stunning. Its amazing what akadama and dosing the water column can do.
 
Nick16 said:
thats a lovely tank, if you were to put something like some blxya japonica in front of your stems but behind the HC, it would look stunning. Its amazing what akadama and dosing the water column can do.
Click to expand...

thanks very much. it's not HC but glossostigma. i don't want to take too much space in James' topic, i just wanted to say thanks. I'm also planning to make a journal on my own tank.
 
zigur said:
Hello James!

I would like to thank you that you introduced me the akadama. I started to rescpae my tank because of your journal, and it was a very big help to me when I rescaped my tank. the outcome is unbelievable, my plants have never been so healthy and beautiful. here's a picture of my tank, this is my acknowledgement for you.

Thanks James!
Click to expand...
It's great to hear back from people who have success with Akadama.
Great looking tank. Look forward to the journal.

Thanks
James
 
Hi all, just ordered 28L of this and I'm looking to pre-treat it.

My theory is that I'll do a week long soak in ferts and calcium carbonate (will this be ok?) then a week of daily water changes in a trug bucket.

Any idea on how much I'll need to use of everything?

James used the following for 3 bags.
120g Calcium carbonate
105g Magnesium sulphate
30g Potassium sulphate

So shall I just go for ~2/3 quantities?
 
And how is the akadama more than a year later ?
Is it still useable and does it have still effect on the kH/gH ?

Sorry for my English ! And I don't know if you use the abreviations gh and kh...
 
Egmel said:
Hi all, just ordered 28L of this and I'm looking to pre-treat it.

My theory is that I'll do a week long soak in ferts and calcium carbonate (will this be ok?) then a week of daily water changes in a trug bucket.

Any idea on how much I'll need to use of everything?

James used the following for 3 bags.
120g Calcium carbonate
105g Magnesium sulphate
30g Potassium sulphate

So shall I just go for ~2/3 quantities?
Click to expand...
To be honest I wouldn't bother treating the Akadama and just do plenty of water changes in the initial weeks. When I did mine I overdid the amounts used and found it more hassle than it was worth. If your local tap water is hard then just soak it in this for a few days if you want. Many people have used it straight with no reported problems that I have heard of. Remember that Akadama has been around for yonks before I stumbled across it and it has always just been used straight. If you still wish to pretreat though then use about a quarter of the amounts that I used. Calcium sulphate is probably the best thing to use as calcium carbonate is virtually insoluble.

James
 
thefrench said:
And how is the akadama more than a year later ?
Is it still useable and does it have still effect on the kH/gH ?

Sorry for my English ! And I don't know if you use the abreviations gh and kh...
Click to expand...
Yes it's still very useable and is still in my tank. The effect on GH and KH only happens in the first few weeks of use. After then it seems to have little effect that I've noticed.

Your English is fine and better than a lot of people's on here. Welcome to the forum
James
 
Thank you !
ok, so the gh and the kh have diminished at the beginning and increased a little next ?
What was you parameters first and now ?
Sorry if you have already mentioned it ...
 
JamesC said:
Egmel said:
Hi all, just ordered 28L of this and I'm looking to pre-treat it.

My theory is that I'll do a week long soak in ferts and calcium carbonate (will this be ok?) then a week of daily water changes in a trug bucket.
<snip/>
Click to expand...
To be honest I wouldn't bother treating the Akadama and just do plenty of water changes in the initial weeks. <snip/> Remember that Akadama has been around for yonks before I stumbled across it and it has always just been used straight. <snip/>
Click to expand...
Thanks James, the reason I was going to soak it in advance was to reduce the need to do the water changes on the tank. This strip down will be coinciding with my new house purchase/move and (sod's law) the submission deadline of my PhD thesis so I wanted to make it as painless as possible. The tank is at my sister's with me currently and she'll let me leave it there for about a week after the house goes through and I move out, but anything more will probably be pushing it.

I'm moving back into a thames water area, so the water should be nice and hard, I'll soak it for a week or so doing daily water changes which will be the rinsing too 🙂 and then just shove it in and keep an eye on everything 🙂

Thanks again :thumbup:
 
JamesC said:
It's great to hear back from people who have success with Akadama.
Click to expand...

I made the switch a couple of months ago. Things are growing really well, I am very pleased with it aesthetically as well - it looks really good to me, is much easier to plant in than gravel, easier to create slopes with as well.

So :thumbup: for Akadama from me.

I presoaked it for months in calcium sulphate and potassium phosphate. Rinsed it throughly, then added it and have not done a single water change since (low tech tank). I put my livestock back in straight after filling with water and did not lose any.


My GH went up to 12 and my KH went down to 0 overnight. Everything is still growing and swimming OK so I have let it stay like this. Although I suspect my GH is slowly dropping. I will test it one of these days to see. I top up with tap water so after a year or so(?) I might register some KH again :lol: Joking apart when everything has grown in I plan to experiment with raising the KH to see if it has any effect on plant growth versus 0KH
 
I have akadama in both of my tanks and the difference is unbelievable. One tank is holding fine whilst the other has crumbled into fine bits and will have to be replaced. Both bags came from the same place ordered at the same time.

I still like the look and use of akadama so will reorder another bag to re-do the tank.
 
Hi all, this is my first post so i hope its in the right place.
I have recently been looking for some reasonably priced akadama for my first aqauscape and found that bonsaiuk.co.uk
are selling 3 x 14 litre bags of double line hard akadama for £38 delivered, 😀 which i thought was quite a good price as ada aqua soil is £36 approx for 1 x 9 litre bag without delivery. 🙁
This is an excellent site by the way.
Hope this is of some help.

Cheers Craig.
 
That's where I got mine from, arrived quickly and is exactly as described.

Will start soaking it as soon as I have an exchange date 😉
 
Seems to be quite a bit of evidence to suggest a fair chance of buying a bad batch of Akadema. I had planned to use 90 litres of this product in a large tank but having second thoughts :?

More bad experiences here
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top