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Is Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder ok on its own?

ideorium

ideorium

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Hi Everyone, first of all forgive me if this is a duplicate post , tried searching under similar subjects but couldn't find much recent information.

I am very excited to start a low tech planted tank with shrimps and some smaller fishes ( like celestial pearl diones ). I am new to the amazing world of planted aquariums. so very excited about it. However I want to make sure I start with a solid information. And the substrate is the probably one of the most important one.

I came across this Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder.
1- Is it good enough on its own? or It needs another base layer substrate underneath it.?
2- how long does it take for the nitrat cycle ?
3- How long does it take to add fertilisers etc?

Id be really appreciate your time and response.

thanks
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum. Tropica Soil Powder is the same as Tropical Soil but in smaller granules. They can be used on their own as an all in one substrate, some people with larger tanks use Tropical Soil or Tropical Soil with a top coat of Tropica Soil Powder (some prefer planting into the powder) and some people with smaller tanks will use Tropica Soil Powder on it's own so as to maintain a sense of scale with small granules. I am going to assume you are new to the hobby, I would get your tank looking how you like it with hardscape, plant it and then leave it for 4-6 weeks before you even consider adding livestock. Being patient is a very valuable skill to have in this hobby and will serve you well. Adding fertilisers is very easy, you could find an all in one to help keep things simple like TNC Complete and just add it once per week after a water change for example.
 
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I've generally used the Tropica substrate underneath, about 1cm deep with about 3-4cm soil on top. All depends what plants you are hoping for. Personally, with the substrate present for low tech I'd not bother with fertilizing. I'd try to keep the soil to areas where you want stem plants, using hardscape to contain it, rather than all over. Same for the substrate.
 
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FrozenShivers said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. Tropica Soil Powder is the same as Tropical Soil but in smaller granules. They can be used on their own as an all in one substrate, some people with larger tanks use Tropical Soil or Tropical Soil with a top coat of Tropica Soil Powder (some prefer planting into the powder) and some people with smaller tanks will use Tropica Soil Powder on it's own so as to maintain a sense of scale with small granules. I am going to assume you are new to the hobby, I would get your tank looking how you like it with hardscape, plant it and then leave it for 4-6 weeks before you even consider adding livestock. Being patient is a very valuable skill to have in this hobby and will serve you well. Adding fertilisers is very easy, you could find an all in one to help keep things simple like TNC Complete and just add it once per week after a water change for example.
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Thank you very much for your prompt reply.☺️ I previously had experience with a non-planted tank that only had rocks, sand, and some cute cichlids. However, that setup ended a couple of years ago. I've been wanting to restart, and this time, I’d like to try a planted tank. I’m starting with a low-tech setup for a 40L tank. And yes, patience is crucial! I’ll share more details once I have the tank and equipment ready. I will pay attention the things you pointed out. thanks again @FrozenShivers
 
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Don't forget that aquasoil messes with your water parameters. It will lower you KH and GH, and pH incidentally. If your tap water is hard, it will eventually stop "working" (messing) after a few months (depending on how hard your water is).
 
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greenfib said:
Don't forget that aquasoil messes with your water parameters. It will lower you KH and GH, and pH incidentally. If your tap water is hard, it will eventually stop "working" (messing) after a few months (depending on how hard your water is).
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Thanks, yea water parameters will fluctuate and where I live water PH is 7.5 approximately, not sure if its a good or bad start.

I have also heard about a Dark start method, considering that option too.

What do you mean by "... it will eventually stop "working" (messing) after a few months".
 
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ideorium said:
Thanks, yea water parameters will fluctuate and where I live water PH is 7.5 approximately, not sure if its a good or bad start.

I have also heard about a Dark start method, considering that option too.

What do you mean by "... it will eventually stop "working" (messing) after a few months".
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Chemically, aquasoil works as a (cat)ion-exchange substrate: it releases protons (H+) in exchange for Calcium and Magnesium ions (Ca2+ and Mg2+), mainly. Removing Ca and Mg from the water drops GH, and the released protons interact with bicarbonates (HCO3-) to form CO2, which drops KH.

With time, depending of how much aquasoil you have and how hard your water is, the cation-exchange sites will be saturated and your soil will not absorb Calcium or Magnesium anymore.
 
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Hi everyone, I have recieved all the basic equipments today, just wanted to share quickly, I will probably be opening a new thread for this, but here they are, I would be very happy to hear any suggestions, thanks
 

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ideorium said:
Hi everyone, I have recieved all the basic equipments today, just wanted to share quickly, I will probably be opening a new thread for this, but here they are, I would be very happy to hear any suggestions, thanks
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Some really nice gear there, I have 2 Fluval 207's (slightly larger version of your 107's) and the 90cm version of the WRGB II Slim, I rate them both highly. I am not keen on the standard tubing that comes with Fluval filters (ribbed black hosing), so changed it out for normal 16/22 tubing as well as a lily pipe set, this is just my personal opinion though and you may be happy with it how it comes 🙂
 
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FrozenShivers said:
Some really nice gear there, I have 2 Fluval 207's (slightly larger version of your 107's) and the 90cm version of the WRGB II Slim, I rate them both highly. I am not keen on the standard tubing that comes with Fluval filters (ribbed black hosing), so changed it out for normal 16/22 tubing as well as a lily pipe set, this is just my personal opinion though and you may be happy with it how it comes 🙂
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Can recommend the Neo Flow Premium inlet/outlet as recently purchased them for my 60l setup and they're really nice. I think there my still be some never used for sale on here!
 
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Thanks a lot @FrozenShivers and @Fluxtor , nice to recieve positive feedback with the choice of equipments. 🙂yes indeed the ones comes with doesn't look that beautiful, definitely will be getting more sleek ones, like suggested Neo Flow ones.

I am just between minds whether I shall go for a dark start or all in one start with huge amounts of plants with daily water changes. I suppose latter is more risky tho.
 
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ideorium said:
Thanks a lot @FrozenShivers and @Fluxtor , nice to recieve positive feedback with the choice of equipments. 🙂yes indeed the ones comes with doesn't look that beautiful, definitely will be getting more sleek ones, like suggested Neo Flow ones.

I am just between minds whether I shall go for a dark start or all in one start with huge amounts of plants with daily water changes. I suppose latter is more risky tho.
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You are welcome 🙂 I have the Neo Flow on one of my tanks, nice pipes. Personally I would do dark start as it's what I done with my last setup.
 
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ideorium said:
How long did you keep it dark? And did you make any water change during that stage?
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I think I done it around for around 6 weeks with 1-2 water changes within that time. I've seen people do it differently though and I have only done it once so far myself so I'm no expert. My advice would be to not rush putting in livestock and concentrate on the plants and getting them growing in nicely first.
 
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